Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 461 Acceptance
"A gift?" Acton glanced at Igilein Bod vigilantly. The man opposite him had fair and smooth skin, a well-proportioned figure, and a neatly trimmed beard. This was in stark contrast to the villagers, hunters, and fishermen he had seen in his daily life. In contrast, the companion bent down to pick up the short knife and pocket, pulled out the knife curiously, stretched out his hand to test the blade, and immediately screamed: "Akton, this knife is so sharp!"

"Idiot! This is an iron knife. You thought it was the bone knife we ​​used to kill fish!" Acton confirmed that the wound was not deep, took the short knife back from his companion, carefully inserted it into the sheath, and opened the pocket to find several black ones inside. Small cubes, he took out a few and looked at them, then asked, "What's in this pocket?"

"It's stone honey!" Igillian Bode said with a smile: "Have you ever eaten honey? The taste of stone honey is similar to honey, you can eat it!"

"It tastes like honey?" Acton immediately became excited. Honey is a good thing. Although he is a child of the village chief's family, he seldom eats it. As the strange guy said, the unique sweetness of honey immediately filled the mouth.

"Yes, yes, that's the taste!" As the stone honey entered, Acton's attitude immediately took a 180-degree turn: "Thank you, this stone honey is really as delicious as honey, it's very kind of you to give it to me like this." Give me something good!"

"As long as you like it!" Igillian Bode said with a smile: "We are businessmen from afar. We want to go to Fuchu Market Town, but we don't know how to get there? Do you know?"

Before Acton could open his mouth, the companion on the side rushed to talk: "Don't leave the market town? Are you talking about the place where ironware is sold? I know, I know, it's about two days away from here by boat!"

"Really?" Iggy Lianbode didn't expect to find out the destination of the trip so easily, and he was overjoyed: "Yes, that's the place, we're going to do business there, I wonder if you can be our guide? I won't let your hard work be in vain!"

Acton looked at Yiji Lianbode, then looked at the big boat on the river, and asked cautiously: "Where are you a businessman? Our Mohe people are fighting with the Tang people and the Khitan people. If you are a Tang or Khitan businessman, I'm afraid I won't do business with you!"

"Don't worry about that, I'm a Japanese, not Tang or Khitan!"

"Waman? Where are the Japanese?"

"My home country is on a big island in the east, a very, very big island! The stone honey you ate just now is produced on our island, and there are many other things on board, even Tang people's goods!"

"There are Tang people's goods!" Acton was overjoyed when he heard the words: "The people who came out of Nafu must welcome you very much. They hate the Tang people because they want to fight with the Tang people, but they like the things of the Tang people. They have often fought in these years. The Tang people’s goods are all cut off, if you can bring the Tang people’s goods there, you will definitely be able to sell them at a good price!”

"Really? That would be great, can you be our guide?"

"I'm afraid I can't do it now. I have something to do at home today. I have to go back and deal with it first. I can come tomorrow. You can stop the boat here and wait for me. I will come to you tomorrow after arrangements are made!"

"Alright, then I'll just wait for the good news!"

Seeing that Yiji Lianbode talked with the two Mohe boys for a while and then came back, Shen Faseng asked, "How is it? Have you heard the news?"

"Yeah!" Igillian Bode nodded: "The two barbarians said they knew Fuchu Town, but they asked me where I was from, and said they were fighting the Tang people and the Khitan people, so they didn't fight the Tang people and the Khitan people. Do business!"

"Then how did you answer him?"

"I said I'm a Japanese, but there are a lot of Tang people's goods on board!"

"Hahaha!" Shen Faseng laughed: "You didn't lie to them. There are not many Tang people on this boat except me. What do those two boys say?"

"They said it didn't matter. Although the people in Fuchu Town don't do business with the Tang people, they like the things of the Tang people very much. Because of years of wars, the trade routes have been cut off, and it has been a long time since we have seen the goods of the Tang people, so we will definitely be able to sell well when we go here. Price!"

"These two boys are very interesting. By the way, what about the guide?"

"They said they still have something to do at home, let us wait for them here for one night, and they will come as guides tomorrow!"

"Come to be a guide tomorrow?" Shen Faseng frowned: "Yechang has many dreams, why don't you arrest those two boys, wouldn't it be better?"

"I thought so too, but the waterway here is complicated, and our ship is big. If they don't want to guide the way randomly, it will be troublesome if our ship runs aground. I have already put my saber and a bag of stones on it. Mi gave them a meeting gift, and promised a generous reward, I am not afraid that they will not come back tomorrow!"

"What you said is also reasonable!" Shen Faseng nodded: "Our boat is very convenient at sea, but we must be careful when entering the inland river. But we must strengthen our guard tonight to prevent barbarians from attacking at night!"

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Attumen Village.

"I'm back!" As soon as the boat docked, Acton yelled loudly and ran towards the village, completely ignoring that his companions were working hard to bring salmon ashore.

"Akton, you run so fast, you leave all the hard work to us!" Companion complained.

"Forget it, we all ate the half bag of stone honey just now, so what's the point of bringing some fish?"

"By the way, do you really want to be a guide for that group of people?"

"Why don't you go? You haven't done enough catching fish, killing fish, hunting and farming every day? Becoming a guide can at least open your eyes and increase your knowledge!"

"Yes, I am thirteen this year, and you are fourteen. If you are older, I am afraid that you will be dragged into the army by the Goguryeo people to fight against the Tang people. You may die someday. If you can get along with this group of businessmen Relationship, isn't it a great thing?"

While his friends were talking and carrying fish, Acton had already run to the door of the house. He crossed the yard full of people and ran to his mother who was busy in the kitchen: "Where's Ama?"

"In the backyard, drinking with some elders! Where's your fish?"

"In the back, I will move here soon, I have something to do with Ama!" Acton ran to the backyard, took the short knife and the remaining half bag of brown sugar to his father, and told the story of the big boat just now, and finally Said: "Ama, I promised them to be guides tomorrow, what do you think?"

The leader didn't answer the youngest son's question right away. He took out a piece of brown sugar and put it in his mouth, then drew out his dagger and looked at it: "Is this given to you by the people on board?"

"Well, the man who got off the boat looks a little strange. His skin is whiter and smoother than the women in the village, and his beard is trimmed beautifully! It's different from us!"

"That should be a nobleman!" The leader replied slowly, "It's not a businessman!"

"My lord? How do you know, Ama?"

"A businessman travels all over the world, exposed to the wind and the sun, how can his skin be so white? And trimming the beard beautifully requires craftsmanship. Maybe there is a special female slave!"

"Then, could he be a rich businessman?" Acton asked back.

"A rich businessman?" The leader sneered, pulled out his dagger and shook it in the light of the fire, and asked, "Akton, do you see clearly? What does the pattern on the blade look like?"

"Kind of like pine leaves!"

"That's right, pine leaves! Do you know how such lines come from?" The leader continued without waiting for the younger son's answer: "Ordinary swords are made by beating hot iron bars, while the best The sword is made by repeatedly stacking red-hot iron bars, so that it has such a beautiful pattern and is extremely sharp. A good knife like this is the best blacksmith, and it will not be able to make a few in a year. Come!" After saying that, he slashed at half of the wild boar that was grilling on the fire with his backhand, and even chopped off half of the wild boar with one knife, even cutting off the spine.

The leader wiped the blade clean, put the knife back into its sheath, and asked, "Akton, which merchant would be willing to give away a good knife like this?"

At this time, everyone in the yard understood what the leader meant. Although nobles are rich and merchants are also rich, there is still a difference between the two. The nobles are rich because they are powerful and powerful. Don't care about spending more money, and sometimes even spend more on purpose to show their generosity; while businessmen are looking for profit, they will also spend money, but in the end they still want to get more money, and spend money "rationally" many.For things like looking for a guide, the businessman must be reluctant to give away all the treasured swords he carries.

"Ama, you mean that nobleman was lying to me?" Acton asked cautiously.

"It can't be said to be lying to you, but there are always some things that the nobleman doesn't want others to know!" The leader said: "So many times he can't tell the truth, but it can't be said that he is lying to you!"

Acton nodded blankly. For a while, he couldn't understand the subtle difference between not telling the truth and cheating. Finally, he decided to put these aside and solve the problem in front of him: "Then I have promised him tomorrow Go to the river to be their guide in the morning, should we go or not?"

The leader didn't answer, but turned to a white-haired old man who was closest to the fire: "Old shaman, can you show Acton the good or bad luck?"

The minced meat on the wild boar's shoulder blade was cleaned and roasted on the fire, and soon six or seven cracks appeared on the shoulder blade.Acton carefully picked up the shoulder blade, sent it in front of the shaman, and stepped aside to wait for the old shaman's interpretation.The old shaman's right hand was shaking on the shoulder blade, and he was muttering words. Acton wanted to get closer to understand what the old shaman said, but he didn't dare. It is said that the shaman was talking to his ancestors at this time, except himself And apprentices, anyone who dares to eavesdrop on the dead man's words will soon follow.

Of course, the shaman has to pay a heavy price for being able to do this. All shamans have no children, and most of them have more or less one or two defects. For example, the old shaman in front of him has a disabled right leg, and his apprentice Born dumb.According to what the old shaman once said after getting drunk-ancestors and gods love those with inherent disabilities more, because otherwise, they would not be able to live.

The old shaman's murmur didn't last long. Suddenly he opened his eyes, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, fell on his back, and kowtowed to the void again and again, as if there was an invisible power there.Seeing this, the others hurriedly imitated the old shaman's behavior. After a while, everyone dared to stand up.The old shaman said out of breath: "It's terrible, I almost won't be able to come back today. I only wanted to ask my ancestors, but even the Deer God was invited!"

Everyone exclaimed. The deer god was a very common belief among the Mohe people at that time, and its majesty naturally surpassed the ancestors of this small village.The leader hurriedly asked about the result, and the old shaman sighed: "Our ancestors told us that since we have promised others, we should keep the promise!"

"Is that why we should go?"

"Yes, but then the Deer God appeared, and he said that this matter is very important, so we can ask for a generous reward!"

"Great reward!" Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. They were still in the tribal alliance stage and they only had a very vague impression of the amount of wealth. After a while, the leader made a decision: "Akton, tomorrow you will ask those people for a hundred A piece of cloth!"

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next morning.

"What? You want a hundred bolts of cloth for your guide?" asked Igilembold.

"Yes, one hundred pieces of cloth!" Acton stretched out his right hand nervously. He still didn't quite understand the true meaning of one hundred pieces of cloth: "Everyone in the village will give one piece of cloth!"

"No problem!" Igillian Bode was too lazy to argue with the barbarian boy in front of him on such a trivial matter: "But I will only give [-] horses first, and the rest will be given when they are free!"

"Okay!" Bargaining is not what Acton is good at, and besides, he also hopes to go to the village and go to Fuchu Town to broaden his horizons.

"Okay, bring twenty bolts of silk cloth and prepare to sail!"

Acton and his two companions boarded the big ship, and they looked at everything in front of them with curious eyes: two masts, a large number of ropes, a smooth and hard deck, and various winches and pulleys. The sound of drums, whistles, and horns, as if in a noisy hive, made a huge roar.

"Anchor, anchor!"

Following the bosun's loud voice, three or four sailors with round waists and thick arms began to turn the winch vigorously, and the hemp rope rose steadily from the water, finally bringing out the iron anchor full of river mud.Then there is the sail raising. The sailors stood neatly under the mast, pulled the rope vigorously, and raised the cloth sail to half the height. Under the strong wind of the river, this big ship, which was nearly 40 meters long and five meters wide, began to sail. Moving slowly, the speed continued to increase, and soon reached a speed that made Acton dumbfounded.He never thought that such a huge creation could move so fast and gracefully without manpower!
"Lower the sails, the wind is too strong! This is an inland river, not the sea!" The captain shouted loudly, and the sailors pulled the rope vigorously. When the sail was lowered to a certain height, the rope was tied to the mooring pile .I saw the captain standing calmly on a high place, constantly issuing various orders, and turning the command of the sailors on the ship around.

(End of this chapter)