Cangzhou beacon fire

Chapter 13
On the seashore in the south of Yueguo, Yuguan Wharf.

The merchant ship bound for Wanli Kingdom slowly departed from the pier. Zhong Xu was lying on the window of the third-floor lobby of the ship. It's easier.

Starting from the capital city, it has been a month since we arrived in Yucheng, and now there is only water from Yue country to Wanli country, Zhong Xu is not in a hurry, it is also a pleasure to see the scenery and food along the way.

"Young master, your meal." The servant Aping is not tall, and he is always smiling. On the plate he is holding, there is a plate of braised pork, a bowl of rice, and a bowl of tofu and minced meat soup. It is very simple.

"Leave it alone, I'm not hungry yet." Zhong Xu replied lazily without looking back.

"Okay, remember to eat, I'm going down." A Ping turned around and went downstairs after speaking. The merchant ship has three floors, the first floor is the warehouse, the second floor is the warehouse and crew housing, and the third floor is the merchant hall and housing.

Zhong Xu looked around at the merchants, most of them were dressed in gold and silver, and they were luxuriously dressed. This may be the reason why A Ping didn't like to stay on the third floor.

The Yue Kingdom has been closed to the outside world for the past ten years, and it has not been completely closed. The two countries, Wanli Kingdom and Baise Kingdom, still have maritime trade. After all, domestically produced timber and iron ore still have to be digested. Good friends, no holidays.

Wanli Kingdom is a small country in the extreme north of the Cangzhou Continent. one.

At this time, several young women with thick fat and heavy makeup stared at Zhong Xu from time to time and whispered to each other. Although the man by the window looked lazy, his facial features were very delicate, not inferior to any of the ladies present. There was a strong bookish air all over his body, which made him even more charming.

Wanli Kingdom is different from other countries. The status of women is almost equal to that of men. There are also countless female businessmen in the country. Therefore, compared with women in other countries, the women in Wanli Kingdom are more confident and unrestrained.

"Hmph, you don't dare to ask, I'll ask." A plump woman at the next table stood up, rolled her eyes at her companion, and walked straight towards Zhong Xu.

"Hello, my son, may I ask which country you are from?" There is a reason for the woman to ask this, because people do not intermarry and have different beliefs. If they are from the country, they will end up here. She was secretly praying in her heart that she would not be from Yue.

However, the answer disappointed her. Zhong Xu didn't even turn his head to look at her, and said flatly, "A native of Yue."

Although the woman was disappointed, she was somewhat self-cultivated. She saluted and returned to her table. When she heard that she was from the Yue country, her companions all looked regretful and complained about the poor etiquette of the Yue people.

"Little brother, can I sit here? The other tables are empty." At this moment, a thick male voice sounded behind Zhong Xu.

Zhong Xu's eyes still did not leave the window, but he could hear the accent was from Yue country, so he replied: "Yes."

The person who came was about 23 or [-] years old. He was not wearing the fine clothes of merchants, but a civilian attire. He had a square face and a flat beard. He sat across from Zhong Xu with a smile and said, "Thank you, brother."

Zhong Xu knew that these people were all Yue people who went to Wanli Kingdom to do small business, but most of them didn't come to the third floor, and they all hang out on the second floor. After all, the third floor charged table fees.

After the man sat down, he took out a cloth bag from his pocket, took out two dry buns, and asked Zhong Xu with one of them, "Do you want it? My grandma made it herself."

Zhong Xu turned his head to look, shook his head and said, "I'm not hungry."

The man took back the bun and started to eat it hungrily.While eating, he asked, "Listen to your accent, is it from the capital?"

Zhong Xu nodded. Although he likes to be clean, for some reason, he didn't feel disgusted by this person in front of him. Maybe it's because he naturally likes such straightforward people.

"My name is Hu Youtian, from Yucheng, what about you?" The dry buns were like delicacies from mountains and seas in the man's mouth, and there were occasional chewing sounds.

"Zhong Xu."

"Zhong's surname? Wang's surname, do you know Zhong Lin, the Zuo Prime Minister of Yue Kingdom?" Hu Youtian was stunned when he heard the surname Zhong, and a piece of flour leaked from his mouth.

Zhong Xu's face sank, and he said calmly, "I'm not familiar with you."

Hu Youtian didn't seem to notice the change in Zhong Xu's expression, and he didn't stop talking: "That's a pity, by the way, you said your name is Zhong Xu?"

"Xu, Yan Yuxu."

Hu Youtian looked up at the sky thinking and asked, "Oh, is there such a word?"

Zhong Xu nodded and did not intend to explain too much.

Hu Youtian didn't seem to intend to waste too much time on this name, so he turned around and asked, "Why are you going to Wanli? Selling goods?"

Zhong Xu took a sip from the cup in front of the table and said, "Study." Zhong Xu put down the cup and asked, "What about you?"

"Me? I just went up the mountain to hunt some furs and dried fish, so I plan to take it to Wanli and resell it." Hu Youtian scratched his head with his hands and laughed.

Zhong Xu looked at Hu Youtian with doubts and said, "Can't Yueguo be sold? Go to Wanli to sell it?"

Hu Youtian finally finished one noodle bun, looking at his chapped lips, Zhong Xu pushed the tofu soup in front of him a little: "Drink it, I don't have an appetite."

"Hehe, thank you." Hu Youtian thanked without ambiguity. He took the soup and started to drink it. The ugly eating appearance aroused the disgust of many people around him, especially the women at the table of Wanli Kingdom.

When I put down the bowl, it was already empty, and there was not even any minced meat left, so I had a great appetite.

"Ah" Hu Youtian let out a contented cry, and beat his chest, as if this would allow the food in his stomach to go down, and then he remembered that he should answer Zhong Xu's question just now.

"You don't understand this. If you sell it in China, you can sell it for a tael at most. If you go to Wanli, you can sell it for at least three or four times the price. Even after deducting the liveaboard fee, you can still make a lot of money."

Zhong Xu looked at him expressionlessly, and asked, "How many goods did you bring?"

"Oh, not much, just the tiger skins and wolf skins that have been hunted in the past seven days and a few baskets of dried fish. You don't know that Wanli people like our dried fish in Yuehai!"

It will take 20 days to go to Wanli, and it will take more than a month to go back and forth. Zhong Yao secretly calculated that even if he could sell the price four times higher, it would not be a good deal in terms of time. More.

"Maybe you can consider saving a month's supply and then go there again."

When Hu Youtian heard this, he pinched his fingers for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. Finally, he shook his head and said, "No, no, no, I have to give it to my grandma when I go back. A month is too long and it's not enough."

Looking at the slightly simple Yue country compatriots, Zhong Xu smiled slightly, and pushed the stewed pork and rice towards him: "Eat this, I can't eat it."

Hu Youtian's eyes lit up when he heard it, and he pretended to be modest with a smile on his face and said, "Is this... okay?"

"Eat it, I can't eat it anyway, it's a pity."

Hu Youtian immediately took the braised pork and rice and said, "Yes, yes, it's a pity!" After speaking, he wolfed down again.

"You don't know, when those tigers and wolves in the mountains saw me, they ran faster than anyone else. My archery village is ranked second, and no one dares to be number one!"

Hu Youtian was still chattering, Zhong Xu's gaze moved out of the window again, feeling the breath of the magnificent sea.

This barren sea seems to be calm, but in fact, there are undercurrents surging. This is true on the sea, and the same is true on land.

(End of this chapter)