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

Cough, frankly speaking, Wei Shang is also very anxious about this point, because from his point of view, he both hopes that the mutual market will end sooner, but he doesn't.

The reason is simple.

Make money.

The large amount of tax revenue from the mutual market this time belongs to their Yanmen County. This is the benefit Liu Qi gave to the two border openings, but before that, they did not expect that the trade volume in such a short period of [-] years would be so huge.Later, the farmers in Yanmen County looked a little interesting, and even signed up to sell melons, fruits and vegetables.

This thing was immediately looted by the Huns.

The land where the Xiongnu is located basically rarely produces fruit, except for the wild sea buckthorn berries in spring, or some small berries in the east. Where have I seen such a heartless, juicy, sweet and sour little berry that is artificially bred? Fruit!

And after eating this fruit called wax gourd, it seems that even going to the toilet every day is smoother, and the price is not expensive. Although the Han people say that it should be cooked, they think it is no problem to eat it raw.

And chicken, ouch!Chicken is delicious!Hey, everything is good in the north, but you can't raise poultry. Poultry loves their homes and is afraid of the cold, so they can't move with them. They usually can't eat these.

"Can't you eat it?" The translator chatted with them, "But don't you also have birds?"

He refers to the winter migratory birds that travel back and forth between the Han and Huns every spring and autumn. These birds live in water plants and lakes. "

Then he saw the eyes of the Huns, "You all eat this? You big Han people are really terrible!".

The Huns said to them in words that the translator could understand with difficulty, "We generally don't eat these birds unless we are very, very, very hungry."

He used three "very" in a row to emphasize the tone.

The interpreter glanced at Hong and Hu who were flying in the sky and were moving south.

The former was later domesticated by the Han people into a goose—to eat.

Although the latter have not been domesticated, they can be caught and eaten by themselves.

cough.

Be more cautious about this topic... he reminded himself secretly.

The interpreter pretended that he hadn't said anything just now with a pure face. He pretended to be puzzled, "Why? Are these two poisonous? Are their eggs edible?"

"Eggs can be eaten," the Huns were not wary of this topic, he explained, "I don't know what you guys are called, we are called @%&$%&" He said a term that the interpreter had never heard.The interpreter automatically recorded this syllable in his mind to replace the word hu.

Then I heard the man say, "This is a magical bird in our place, because they can fly very well. If you count the distance, if you go north, they can fly about as far from here to Chang'an as you, and then you can go to Chang'an." will land."

The interpreter's eyes flashed, "It's too exaggerated to go from here to our Chang'an, how could birds fly so far, and it was still snowing in your place at that time, they were grazing, where did they get food?"

"Hahaha!" The Xiongnu man laughed loudly, his laughter attracted the Huns nearby, and several men came over and asked him what he was laughing at.After communicating a few words in the Hun language, the Hun men said to him one by one: "You guys underestimate the swan..."

"Yeah, this thing may have flown. When it leaves, it will be full once and for a long time. When it flies to us, the grass hasn't grown yet, but they will eat the roots of aquatic plants."

"Occasionally it will eat some small fish, as long as the water surface thaws, they will come. Every year we see the swan coming, we know that spring is coming, and then we will prepare to go out..."

He swallowed the latter words, and the men looked at the Han interpreter vigilantly, and the interpreter was blindly lamenting how powerful this swan was.Seeing that the Han man didn't seem to notice, the Hun man quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then he coughed dryly and changed the subject, "And you don't know, the more the swans come every year, the more fish, so we put them all there." As a divine bird, it is generally not easy to shoot and kill."

"So that's how it is!" The interpreter said "I've learned a lot" and looked extremely sincere. This kind gesture was particularly pleasing to the Huns, especially after the interpreter secretly brought them some wine made by the Han people. , their friendship became stronger.

The wine brewed by the Han people is very popular among the Xiongnu, after all, it is delicious.

Grain on the grasslands is precious, and they will never be used to make wine. When the grassland men want to drink, they must either grab it or brew kumiss.

To say that brewing kumiss is quite difficult, if there is a lady who is particularly good at brewing and looks good, then no need to ask, she must be the protagonist who was pursued at the bonfire meeting back then.

"That's amazing!" The interpreter looked around to see if no one noticed him, quietly took a sip of the wine, and then quickly covered the lid.Seeing the mocking looks of some Hun men, he hurriedly said, "I'm on duty, don't drink too much, I can drink very well, and I won't get drunk after a thousand cups!"

"You Han people have a lot of things to do." The Hun man took the flagon he handed over, took a sip into his mouth first, and relieved his hunger. Then he noticed a detail. He held the flagon and looked at it carefully, with an expression A little serious, "This...your pot is so beautiful, can you sell it?"

The interpreter was taken aback, he looked at the jug, and said hesitantly: "This thing is not suitable for you, it is not resistant to knocking, and it is easy to break."

"Hey, this is my business. I think you are very nice. Come on, tell me a price. If it is suitable, I will exchange it with you. We will exchange it secretly without paying taxes." The Huns took the flagon in the Looking up and down in his hands, he felt that the texture of this sapphire was as exquisite as the most beautiful gem on the prairie, and when touched under his fingers, it was as smooth as suet.

When did the Han people come up with this thing?

He smacked his lips, and when he saw the troubled look on the Han people's face, he felt displeased immediately, but he looked at the overly exquisite wine vessel in his hand, suppressed his thoughts, and patted the interpreter's seemingly slender hand with his palm like a cattail fan. Shoulder, "Hey, I am Fuller, but we are famous in our prairie for loyalty. If you sell this to me, we will be friends."

"We prairie men are very loyal to our friends. And what are you doing as an interpreter? Haven't you thought of making a fortune? I know that you Han people have something that you really want. As long as the price is right, we will do it. It's not negotiable."

The interpreter was stunned for a moment, not sure whether it was bait or a surprise, but he decided not to take the bait no matter what.

There is nothing wrong with being sure, so he stretched out his hand to snatch the flagon back. The Huns did not expect him to react like this, and he caught him unexpectedly.The interpreter said angrily, "In our Han Dynasty, being a businessman is not a good thing. You are looking down on me."

"Hey! You have wronged me!" The Xiongnu man was busy talking and talking to calm people's emotions, and then he looked at the place where he kept his livestock with a reluctant interpreter, and patted them triumphantly. The bleating lamb said, "It's not me, my sheep. If we say the second here, no one will dare to say the first. Look, how white the hair is, just like the clouds in the sky. Look at the teeth again. , this hoof."

The Hun said proudly: "My family is the most powerful family on the left, so our sheep are raised in places with the most abundant water and grass. Whether the mutton tastes good or not has a lot to do with what they eat, so you and I Absolutely worth it.”

Seeing the interpreter frowning and thinking, the big man immediately increased the price: "Two sheep, I will exchange you a flagon, it is not a loss for you!"

"Just kidding!" The interpreter glared at him immediately, and he carefully held up his porcelain jug: "This is porcelain, do you know porcelain?"

The big man of the Xiongnu was at a loss, he didn't know.

Seeing him like this, the interpreter snorted and told people about the various developments of porcelain in Dahan in the past year.When the Xiongnu man heard that this thing is currently affordable by the royal family and nobles, he immediately looked at him suspiciously.The interpreter shrugged and said, "Of course I shouldn't be able to afford it, but our Majesty has shipped a batch to sell to you this time, and by the way... hehe."

"Sell? You are talking nonsense. I came here on the first day, and I didn't see it at all." The Hun was very angry, and then he heard a cruel fact.Porcelain is only sold in Dai County, just like rice is only sold in Yanmen County.

You guys are so good at playing!

The Huns hesitated immediately. He calculated the distance from Yanmen County to Dai County, and then calculated whether it would be too late now.

This time the big man opened two mouths, and everyone didn't think too much about it, of course whichever is more convenient to come.For the tribe where this man belongs, he is more familiar with Yanmen County, after all, he often comes to thresh grain and grass, cough.

How did they expect that the big man would sell different things in two different ways.

This utensil called porcelain is so exquisite. The interpreter said that it is an upgraded version of pottery. They prepared a lot of porcelain bowls and cups in Daijun. use this.

And this time, considering the living habits of the Huns, the emperor of the Han Dynasty also ordered them to prepare a lot of sacrificial utensils. When you open the sacrifice next spring, how exquisite are the sacrificial items with this kind of porcelain.

Duo Duo can make a big splash in front of other tribes.

But now, it's gone...

Because he went to the wrong place!

Seeing the Xiongnu man's expression became more ferocious, the interpreter quickly comforted him: "It's okay, at least you can exchange the wheat that is not available in Dai County in our Yanmen, right? Didn't you say before that you can have a good winter with the wheat? "

How is this the same?The Huns widened their eyes.

If the winter is not good, you can grab it, but if the sacrifice loses the limelight, you can... Huh?

He touched his chin, yes, why didn't I think of it just now?Although the limelight of the sacrifice cannot be regained, the supplies for the sacrifice can be.

It must be too late to rush to Dai County now, things have been robbed long ago, but they can rob the returning caravan.If you can snatch away what they exchanged, wouldn't that be equivalent to making a lot of money?No business!

Coincidentally, he is not the only one who has the same idea.

The Huns and other tribes in Dai County went crazy when they heard that Yanmen County had exchanged wheat.

They tasted very, very delicious wheat cakes in Dai County, which were all baked on the spot. There were also a few stalls that made pancakes with wheat paste on a large flat plate. Very tough, not easy to tear.

The big Han people who can't speak the Hun dialect showed them that after spreading out this thing, put meat and vegetables in it, and then put some black paste, it tastes so delicious after one bite!

You can eat more than ten in one breath.

This makes the men can't help thinking that if there is wheat, they can ask the women at home to paste the pancakes first, and then take them out when hunting outside, or eat them directly. No matter how you think about it, it's beautiful!

However, this thing is not sold in Dai County.

Daijun sells only salt and porcelain.

At first they thought that porcelain was a pretty thing, and it was always face-saving to take it out, but what's the use of face?Can I eat it?

At this moment, the two teams came up with an idea together——

Rob him.

When the friendship boat between the Xiongnu tribes was crumbling, instructions were also issued from the royal court of the Han Dynasty. This time, the exchange was extended for a ten-day period in consideration of the difficulty of the long distance.

However, the goods on the official side have basically been sold out, and no more goods can be allocated for a period of time. The next mutual market will mainly be dominated by private caravans.

Before the Huns had time to protest, they were attracted by the dazzling array of folk goods, and abruptly gave the unexported "We want wheat and porcelain, can you change the two selling points?" swallowed.

Compared with the rigor and simplicity of the official caravans, there are all kinds of goods brought by the private caravans, especially the caravans from the south.They brought a lot of things that the Huns had never seen before, some things even the frontier interpreters didn’t know, especially the languages ​​and grammars between the Chinese and the Huns were different, and the translated words couldn’t reach its meaning.

For example, the lanterns of Zhongshan Kingdom.

It itself is a brand-new noun, and the translator rolled his eyes, and the words were spoken in Chinese.The Huns were full of question marks, and then they saw the big Han people showing them how to use the lantern.

Xia Anran naturally didn't bother to dye the lanterns sold to the Huns.But considering the strong wind on the prairie, there is a place under these lanterns where heavy objects can be placed. As for what to put, it is up to the Huns to think about it.

The Huns were shocked when they saw this thing that could protect the flames from being blown out, and even praised it as a good thing.

The Huns who came to Daijun Kouzi took a look at the lanterns and immediately asked for bulk orders.

Animals on the steppe are afraid of fire, but this fear is not so much the fear of being burned by the fire, as it is because the flames will reveal their hidden figures.So they are actually more afraid of the bright enough light than the flame itself.

The most important thing is that the place where the fire is located can help the warriors of the tribe to see their surroundings clearly. After all, their enemies are not only livestock, but also other tribes that cannot survive to plunder.

However, in the weather of heavy wind and heavy snow, how to protect the flames has added a lot of trouble.

There are not as many trees on the grasslands as in the Central Plains, and the fuel they use is generally dried animal manure or discarded useless fur.Some of these resources can be saved in winter.So it is impossible for them to spend a lot of fuel just to build a large enough fire.

The Huns had instinctively discovered that the wind was the killer of accelerated fuel consumption.So what he was interested in was not so much the lantern itself, but the windproof technology.

and……

"You guys, this one, the bigger one?" He randomly pulled over a Han man in awkward Chinese, and the Han man he caught was the man who was in charge of checking the quality of the goods, and the latter was also wondering how to order this new man. When he was pulled by the Huns, he rolled his eyes and explained to the Huns, "This one is very, very expensive."

He pointed to the paper above, "Only nobles can use a little."

The Hun frowned, he poked the upper layer of "paper" with some hesitation, and was surprised by the extremely smooth touch.The touch of the wax paper used to shield the wind in the Zhongshan Kingdom is extremely delicate, and this kind of slippery feeling has never been seen by the Huns in their lives.

He thought it was a stronger fabric, but now it doesn't look like that.

This should be a brand new material, and he is not very interested in what material it is.But according to the current aesthetic trend, the more delicate and soft the more expensive, he knows this in his heart.

"How about the market?" He uttered the most proficient Chinese sentence.

The Yaman said to him very sincerely: "One sheep and one lamp, and if you buy more, you can get a candle as a gift."

What are candles?

The Huns felt that they could no longer understand the language of the Han people. He looked around and hurriedly waved for someone to get the interpreter over.

In the end, Zhongshan Country received a private custom-made product.Xia Anran was a little shocked with the slip of application materials handed over by the studio.

He frowned and reconfirmed with the group: "The Huns want a big lantern that can be hung at the door?"

"Yes."

Xia Anran figured out the tents commonly used by the Huns, and then looked at the size of the writing on it, this, this may not be able to hang, this can be regarded as a sky lantern!

You have to make a special pole to hang it up, right?

The Huns came to order two lamps that were nearly half the height of a person, and they also said that if the effect was good, they would place a large order before leaving and pick it up next year.

Because this order requires a lot of resources, the people in the craftsman workshop can't make the decision, so hurry up to ask for instructions.

Xia Anran didn't hesitate, he swiped his pen and stamped on the document asking for instructions, and then he said to the people in the workshop: "I remember, we made red lanterns before?"

It is said to be red, but it is actually the operation of sticking a layer of ordinary dyed paper on the wax paper. It is simply a big problem to color the wax paper.So out of market demand, this speculative thing appeared.This thing is brushed with tung oil on the outside, which also has a certain waterproof and windproof effect, but the cost is very high.For the budget-conscious little king, he decided to put this creative design aside for a long time.

But since it was given to the Huns, it doesn't matter.

At that time, you can promote how rare this red color is. Although nomads all worship white, they also use red and green a lot.When the time comes to show the red light in the vast white snow, don't be too vocal.

——For the army of the big man, it is also very conspicuous.

In addition to the lantern, the caravan going south also brought back a large number of cattle and sheep. All the goods brought to Daijun before were sold out, and the people in the caravan have not left yet. Goods, on the other hand, I also want to wait and see the goods of the Huns themselves.

But it's a bit embarrassing to be stupid without anything, so the caravan came to ask if there is anything else we can sell in Zhongshan.

This question made Xia Anran feel awkward.

Ceramics cannot be sold. Now ceramics are completely monopolized by the official trade. If the quantity is suddenly large, it will easily affect the price, and it will also lead to sufficient supplies for the Xiongnu on both sides, and they can peacefully solve their respective needs. This is not the result that the big man wants. .

So it's better to sell some disposable products...

He thought of the lanterns that the Huns wanted, and as soon as he rolled his eyes, he asked people to quickly make a batch of animal molds.

It is extremely simple and quick to make candles with molds. Put two pottery plates together, pour wax oil, and then put them in cold water. In this gradually cooling autumn, one can be completed in a few breaths.

The craftsmen worked overtime to produce this object, but within half a day, a large number of candles were produced and shipped to Dai County.

The lighting effect of this kind of candle is so-so, because the shape is uneven, it will inevitably cause the problem that the wax oil cannot be fully burned, but it doesn't matter, who is used to burn the special-shaped candle?

Xia Anran is so cunning, he asked people to quickly prepare a batch of wooden boxes, put these worthless candles inside, and sorted out a set of livestock gift boxes.

The original intention of livestock is to sacrifice animals. For the big man, the annual sacrifice itself is an extremely extravagant thing, not to mention the lack of supplies of the Huns, but they still have more to sacrifice Get used to it.

In this way, wouldn't it be better to use this whole set of candles instead of the goods to accompany the gods and gods, and light one at a time in the weekdays, and all varieties will be served together for the great sacrifice.

You see, not only do we sacrifice the most popular cattle, but we also cook chicken, duck and fish that you don’t have in the north, isn’t it very considerate?

The trader was dumbfounded by what the little king said. He looked down at the packaging box that the little king used as a foil for the high-grade dyed paper silk. All kinds of small animals were lying on the paper silk like suet. There is a very advanced feeling, and I am immediately convinced.

After being persuaded, he naturally has the confidence to persuade other people, after all, he has confidence.

In addition to the caravan sent by the Zhongshan Palace, several shops in the Guoguo County of Zhongshan also jointly issued an application, expressing that they also wanted to do this cross-border trade.

These days, domestic sales and re-export is inevitable, especially when the prices of the two sides are not equal, and the cultural and technological points are not equal.

Just relying on the difference in technology between each other, the progressive party can make a fortune on the backward party.This is a common principle all over the world.

Zhongshan Country itself has a superior geographical location. Although it is not as good as Handan and other areas in the south, it is not bad. After all, they have the advantage of transporting to the north.

This time, the trade agreement between the Han and the Hungarians stipulated that all firms that want to participate in this commercial activity need to cooperate with each other to guarantee each other. Five firms will form a group, and if one person has a problem, the remaining four will be in trouble.

On top of that, they also need to be vetted and approved by the highest county level executive.

But this step is stuck here.

The author has something to say:

Interpreter of Yanmen County: (inquire about news)

Translator on behalf of the county: ...how do you translate this?

Interpreter on behalf of the county: How do you translate this?

Interpreter on behalf of the county: no more translations.

The Xiongnu people in Yanmen County: (speeched on the news) chirping, chirping, chirping

Daijun Huns: Buy it!purchase!ah! !I want to buy this too!

Xia Miao: A candle for you.

Xia Miao: Two red lanterns for you.

Xia Miao: Hey, I would like to send you a GPS location if there is one.

cough

It is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge.

Xia Miao took out a small notebook of vengeance.