Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 25 0024 [Bottom and Buying and Selling]

After eating for a long time, it was completely dark, and there was no one to listen to the story.

The real busy season has arrived.

Zhu Ming announced that "Journey to the West" will be suspended, and the update will be resumed after the rice planting is over.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law took their children to rest, and even the silkworm babies were fed in advance, and they had to get up in the middle of the night to prepare to go up the mountain.

Every household in the village is like this, recharging their energy and recharging their energy, waiting to go to work.

Zhu Ming, who had to tell stories every night, felt a little uncomfortable, sitting alone in the courtyard and watching the stars.

Zhu Guoxiang was also very bored, so he went to the eaves and said, "Go to sleep."

"It's probably not even eight o'clock, so I'm going to sleep." Zhu Ming missed his mobile phone and computer.

Zhu Guoxiang came behind his son and slapped him down: "Yaoya! Yarn! Can you talk properly? I am your father anyway!"

Zhu Ming covered the top of his head: "Dean Zhu, please respect yourself, a gentleman uses his mouth but not his hands."

Zhu Guoxiang stopped speaking, and sat silently beside his son, looking at the stars together bored.

Cloudy, few stars to see.

Sitting withered for a while, the cold wind suddenly picked up, and the spring thunder surged.

A few raindrops fell on his face, but Zhu Ming still sat still, the rain of apricot blossoms was not wet on his clothes... no wonder!
It has come to the vernal equinox, and the drizzle will become heavier as it falls.The father and son, who were bathed in the drizzle, soon couldn't stand it anymore, packed up the bench in a panic and went back to the house.

There is no stable, and the skinny horse is usually raised in the courtyard, but now it hides under the eaves with four hooves.

Night, spring rain.

Holding an oil-paper umbrella and holding a lantern in his hand, Bai Chongyan strolled leisurely through the fields, followed by a family boy who also held an umbrella.

It's just that the road is a bit slippery, and the handsome Bai Sanzi almost jumped into the field like a dog eating shit.

"Lang Jun, be careful!" the house boy hastily stopped him.

Bai Chongyan pretended to fail, a little embarrassed, he stabilized his feet and said, "It's okay."

Before it rained, Bai Chongyan was still in his garden, having a night out with his friend Li Hanzhang holding candles.Unable to swim in the rain, Li Hanzhang went to sleep, and Bai Chongyan happened to find time to meet Zhu's father and son.

Regarding the reputation of his old friend, Bai Chongyan did not want to say anything, so it would be best to solve this matter quietly.

"Clap clap clap!"

The houseboy knocked on the courtyard door.

"Which one?" Mrs. Yan was old and didn't sleep deeply, and was soon awakened by the knock on the door.

Zhu Ming had already put on a bamboo hat under the eaves, and said loudly, "I'll go and have a look."

The courtyard door opened, and the four eyes met.

Bai Chongyan raised the lantern, saw Zhu Ming's face clearly, put down the lantern again and said, "Young scholar Zhu?"

"Exactly," Zhu Ming guessed, looking at the other party's clothes and the family boy behind him, "San Lang of the Bai family?"

"Not bad." Bai Chongyan smiled.

Zhu Ming moved out of the way: "San Lang, please come in!"

They walked through the small courtyard, and before they reached the house, Grandma Yan had already put on her coir raincoat and came out.

Bai Chongyan handed the lantern and the oil-paper umbrella to the family boy, and saluted, "See you, Auntie!"

Grandma Yan said happily: "Sanlang is back, hurry up and sit in the room!"

Not long after, Shen Yourong also heard the noise, got dressed and came to meet the guests.

The oil lamps were lit, the bean fire swayed, and everyone sat around the table in the main room.

Bai Chongyan glanced at Zhu Guoxiang, and asked, "Mr. Zhu, when and where did you and I study together?"

Zhu Guoxiang said truthfully: "Today is the first time I see Mr. Saburo."

"So, you are blatantly lying?" Bai Chongyan's expression was calm, showing no anger at all.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It's about Miss Shen's reputation, it has to be like this."

Bai Chongyan didn't bother with this, and continued to ask: "You two have a weird accent, where is your hometown?"

Zhu Guoxiang said, "It's from Guangnan Road."

Guangnan Road is probably Guangdong and Guangxi, where there are all kinds of dialects, not to mention that Bai Chongyan is from Hanzhong, even southerners can't understand it.

The father and son have already discussed it, and their hometown is in Guangnan.

But Bai Chongyan asked: "Which county in Guangnan?"

Zhu Ming replied: "Liuzhou, Liucheng County."

As far as the administrative divisions of the Song Dynasty were concerned, it would be good if Zhu Ming could remember the various districts. How could he know the specific states and counties?He had a college roommate whose hometown was in Liucheng, so he simply used this place as an impostor.

Bai Chongyan, who had never set foot in the south of the Yangtze River, really couldn't ask any more questions.

"What are you two doing in Xixiang County?" Bai Chongyan asked again.

Zhu Ming didn't even bat an eyelid when he told the lie: "My father and son are considered to have a small family business in Liucheng. Because I hated the local tyrants, I had to leave my family and business and go away. I traveled to various states and armies, and usually did some small business. Last year, I took out all my property and purchased a batch of Jiangnan goods, intending to transport them to the Northwest for sale. Unexpectedly, I encountered water bandits on the Han River. The boat was robbed and people were killed. My father and I jumped into the water to escape, but luckily we were not caught by water bandits. Get caught."

Bai Chongyan pointed to the top of Ju Ming's head: "What hair do you two have?"

Zhu Ming explained: "I had no money, no food, I cut off my hair and pretended to be a monk, and I wanted to get some food to fill my stomach along the way."

Zhu Guoxiang interjected: "I picked up a horse on the way. Although it was skinny, it was very human. Even if we were hungry, we were reluctant to kill the animal. Because the animal followed, no matter begging for food or alms, the villagers along the way were unwilling. For food."

"Thanks to Mrs. Shen's kindness, otherwise my father and son would have starved to death." Zhu Ming added.

Bai Chongyan frowned and said nothing. Of course he didn't believe one side of the story, but he couldn't find a loophole to expose it.

Shen Yourong left silently, quickly brought the "Three Character Classic", held it in both hands and handed it to Bai Chongyan: "Sanlang, let's see."

The house boy was clever, so he got up immediately and moved the oil lamp closer.

Bai Chongyan read by the light, his complexion gradually improved.Most of the intellectual allusions in the "Three Character Classics" have been learned before, and they are not too advanced.

Although easy to understand, it is an excellent children's book.

Moreover, those who can compile such elementary textbooks must have read many books, and their knowledge is not comparable to that of ordinary scholars.

Scholars who can compile the "Three Character Classics" need to be deceived in mountain villages?That would be too overkill!

Bai Chongyan is a scholar, and Zhu's father and son are also scholars, so they can naturally get closer to each other.

While Bai Chongyan was reading the "Three Character Classic", Zhu Guoxiang went to get a Hu brush.

After reading it, Bai Chongyan praised sincerely: "Good article!"

"Mr. Sanlang, please take a look at this brush." ​​Zhu Guoxiang held the brush in both hands, "This is a precious thing, and it is kept close to you all the way, so you can only take it with you when you run for your life."

Bai Chongyan said, "Bring clean water."

Jiatong and Shen Yourong acted at the same time, and quickly brought a bowl of water.

Bai Chongyan moistened the pen with clear water, smoothed it and held it upright, looking carefully at the tip of the brush.Then flatten the tip of the hair, observe it for a while, then smooth it again, then press it hard on the paper, and then pick up the pen to continue observing.

After completing these steps, Bai Chongyan was already looking happy.

Then he weighed the penholder again, and after testing the center of gravity, stroked it gently back and forth.

Bai Chongyan praised sincerely: "Sharp, neat, round, healthy, the best of the best."

Zhu Guoxiang began to repeat the salesman's content: "Mr. Sanlang, please look at the sharp edge of this pen, which is the part of the pen tip that is transparent, and the craftsman calls it 'sunspot'. This pen is made of wool. It is too cold in the north and the goat hair is soft, so it cannot be made. Front. Only choose the goats in the south, eat grass in spring, chew mulberry in winter, and the wool is tough and thin, so that you can make a front. You must also choose the hair of the goat's neck and underarms. One goat can produce four or two strokes in the end. And these four taels of wool can produce 'spots', at most one or two or six dollars."

Zhu Ming chimed in: "Bai Letian has a poem to prove it: pick a hair out of a thousand!"

Bai Chongyan was still in shock, and Zhu Guoxiang suddenly felt emotional: "It's a pity that I didn't have the chance to see Zihao, that is the real best. Just take a small piece of hair from the back of a hare, and a thousand hares can only pick out one or two Zihao!"

In the eyes of the villagers, the Bai family is a very big family.

In fact, it's just a country tyrant.Not to mention looking at the entire Lizhou Road, even if he left Xixiang County, Bai Chongyan was just an ordinary scholar.

Where has he used such a good pen?
Not to mention using it, I have never even seen it!

Under the explanation of the father and son, Bai Chongyan began to pay attention to the pen, and indeed there were a handful of them.He pressed lightly with his fingers, and it was soft, tough and thin, and Bai Chongyan's heart beat wildly in an instant. He really met the best product today.

The modern breeding industry is booming, and brush materials are easy to obtain, so one of this kind of high-quality brush can be bought for a few hundred yuan.

But in ancient times, although there were many sheep in the south, each sheep was only available for one, two or six cents.Among the two or six dollars of wool, we have to continue to weed out the ones that are too short and cut off the ones that are too long. How much is really usable?
"The two of you are going to sell?" Bai Chongyan suppressed his excitement and tried not to shake his voice.

Zhu Ming said: "When selling goods, there are destined people."

"How much is the price?" Bai Chongyan didn't know how to bid.

Zhu Ming glanced at his father. In fact, they are not good at pricing. They can only calculate based on the prices of grain and salt.

Zhu Guoxiang tentatively asked: "How about three hundred guan?"

Zhonghu in remote areas of the Northern Song Dynasty had an average family property of more than 20 guan (including houses, land, cattle, furniture and other properties combined).

Nakato in a slightly affluent area has an average household property of about 50 kan.

In some extremely wealthy areas, the average household property is close to 100 guan.

And the first-class households in the southwestern mountainous area, even the richest man in a county, have total assets of only a few thousand guan.

Three hundred guan is a lot of money!

Three hundred guan, you can buy three hundred big fat pigs in Kaifeng.

The prices in Xixiang County are even cheaper, and you can buy at least four to five hundred big fat pigs.

Bai Chongyan, the son of a local tyrant, also felt pain in his heart when he bought a writing brush with [-] guan.This is not the rich and prosperous Jiangnan, how much money can the rural local tyrants in Hanzhong have?

Take the old white member's family as an example, counting all the fixed assets, they can barely claim to be a millionaire, which happens to be the living expenses of the Empress Dowager Longyou for ten days--Zhao Gou proclaimed himself emperor in the south, and the Empress Dowager was very frugal. Living expenses are only one thousand guan.

As for the cash of the Bai family, it can reach five or six thousand coins, and it is the savings of several generations.

The grandparents and grandchildren of the old white members have struggled for generations, and saved the living expenses of the empress dowager for a few days, so they are very capable.

Gritting his teeth, Bai Chongyan said: "Three hundred guan is too expensive, if only [-] guan, I will buy it!"

(End of this chapter)