Song Dynasty Cannon Fodder Counterattack Record

Chapter 35 Apples and Roses

It's almost September, and the weather is getting colder.The family of the wounded living in Futian Hospital had to return to Weizhou before the cold weather. On the day they left, Li Buqi and Lian Guangzhi made a special trip to see them off.

Although the wounded was still on crutches, the wound had basically healed, and the faces of the two children had some blood.After sending the Buddha to the west, Li Buqi gave another two pieces of money, and also gave the little girl a big doll.The little girl hugged the doll tightly in her arms and wrinkled her little nose and gave Li Buqi a sweet smile. She got on the donkey cart and kept waving at Li Buqi.

After seeing off the whole family, Li Buqi went to South Workshop to report. On the way, he met scholars who came back from reading the list in twos and threes. Some were high-spirited and some were downcast.There will be a scientific examination next spring, and the government examination will start now, so that the candidates from remote areas can rush to the capital before the examination starts.Li Buqi looked at Lian Guangzhi sizing up these talents and asked, "When do you plan to go back to take the Juren exam?"

Lian Guangzhi smiled bitterly: "Let's wait for the next subject. Even if you are admitted to Juren in this subject, you will have to accompany others to take the exam when you go to the college." What about the meals at my brother's house?"

Li Buqi hurriedly vaccinated him: "You are not allowed to go to the store to eat and drink? That is to make money."

Lian Guangzhi pretended to be angry: "Do you think I look like such a thick-skinned person?"

Li Buqi didn't give him face either, "I see elephants."

After walking a few more steps, Lian Guangzhi pulled Li Buqi's clothes: "It's really strange that no one follows you today."

A few bearded beards with high noses and deep eyes came across from the opposite side. You could tell from their clothes that they were authentic Arabs. Li Buqi hurried up and saluted: "Hello, I wonder if you can speak Song dialect?"

A Song man who looked like a translator asked a step earlier: "What's the matter with you?"

Li Buqi said, "Are you an interpreter? I don't know where these people came from? Did they come to Song Dynasty by sea or by land?"

The interpreter said: "These guests are all Hu merchants from Dashi. They landed in Guangzhou, so they naturally came from the sea."

Li Buqi asked in his heart: "Then you can ask these Hu merchants if they would like to make a deal?"

But the interpreter said: "These Hu merchants have already delayed their time because they lingered in the prosperous Song Dynasty, and now they have to leave immediately to go back to Guangzhou to catch the trade winds and go to sea. The goods they brought from Dashi have been replaced by goods from Song Dynasty. Therefore, if there is any business, we will do it next time.”

Li Buqi said: "I don't sell to them, but I want them to help me find something overseas. If you ask them if they have been to Damascus and Baghdad, then the business can still be done."

Although Li Buqi didn't know how to translate Damascus and Baghdad in this era, several Hu merchants immediately looked at these two pronunciations and asked the translator Li Buqi what he was talking about.The interpreter and several people muttered a few words, then turned their heads and said, "They said that since you know Damascus and Baghdad, they can do business with you. I wonder what you are looking for?"

Li Buqi pointed to the tea house on the side of the road and said, "Let's go there to borrow a pen, and I'll draw that thing."

Several people entered the tea house and found a table to sit down. Li Buqi asked Dr. Cha to draw two pictures with pen and paper and handed them to the Arabs. They nodded immediately after seeing it.Soon through the interpreter, it was agreed that the Arabs would bring apples and Damascus roses to Li Buqi, and Li Buqi would pay them [-] guan.Li Buqi has a little reputation now. When the interpreter learned that he was facing Li Buqi, he told Hu Shang that Li Buqi's credit was guaranteed. The two parties immediately signed a contract, and Lian Guangzhi couldn't help but click his tongue: "You pay five hundred guan for apples and that kind of flowers. What the hell is this?"

Li Buqi said: "You should know that my apples in the Song Dynasty can only be viewed and eaten. But the old man who asked me to paint said that the apples in the west of Dashi are very sweet and can be stored for a long time. They can be eaten if they are stored properly. One winter. If I, Da Song, can introduce Western apples, there will be another way to eat. Do you think if we only have this kind of apples, if we only have this kind of apples, wouldn’t we be able to earn back five hundred guan?”

He is proud of it.Before traveling, I happened to read a magazine for my children saying that the apples cultivated in ancient China were so sour that they were not edible at all. Later apples were imported from Europe.At the beginning of the introduction, one apple can be sold for [-] yuan, and [-] yuan is just [-] apples.

In fact, there are still many good things overseas that need to be introduced, such as cabbage, onion, lemon, etc., but now that Hu merchants are asked to find so many things, Hu merchants may wonder if they are entertaining them.The next step is to find a few more sea merchants from the Song Dynasty to go sea hunting for treasure.

Lian Guangzhi asked again: "What is that flower?"

Li Buqi said: "It's just roses. But the roses grown in a place called Damascus are especially fragrant. It will be very useful for me to introduce this variety."

"Oh, let's wait and see for my brother."

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Although ancient China already had iron shoes, they were not nailed to the horseshoes with iron nails at that time. It was very troublesome to install and easy to damage, so their use was greatly restricted.If the horseshoe can be fixed with iron nails, the iron horseshoe can be widely used, so the court attaches great importance to it.Today not only Ding Du came, but also the third division in charge of the workshop, the Privy Council and the Group Shepherd Division all sent people, and they will not let this credit go.

Horseshoes and iron nails are very simple things, and they were built by a few blacksmiths after a while.The point is that no one has done horseshoeing in Song Dynasty.Fortunately, Liu Zhiwei was a production team when he was a child at his grandma's house. The barn of the production team was not far from his grandma's house, and there were big animals such as horses, cows, and donkeys in it. Liu Zhiwei often went to play and saw Horseshoeed several times.

After working in technical work for so many years, there is nothing he dare not try.A horse was led and tied to a stake, and the hind legs were fixed to a strong stake with a rope.Hoof cutting is an essential skill for a good groom. When a groom picked up the hoof and took a knife to trim the horse's hoof, Li Buqi ordered the groom to nail the horse's shoe to the horse's hoof. Finally, he personally checked whether it was firm.

After the four shoes are all nailed, let the horse go, let the horse relieve its tension.Judging from the horse's gait, there was nothing uncomfortable about nailing the horseshoe, so the grooms put iron armor on the horse, fixed the saddle, and let a fully armored cavalry ride on it to run around the school field.

After running for three days in a row, the Privy Council, Qun Mu Si and San Si reported to Zhao Zhen that the horseshoe was successful, and the effect of the horseshoe was even more hype.So when Zhao Zhen was happy, he rewarded Li Buqi with [-] yuan.

Thirty thousand dollars!It sounds like a lot, but it's actually only thirty.Li Buqi earned more than that for painting a portrait in Daxiangguo Temple.For the thirty pennies, Li Buqi had to teach the Great Song a group of blacksmiths and grooms who could shoe the horses, and shoe all the horses of the imperial guards in the capital—it was really worthless to discover in the Song Dynasty.But in the future, whoever says that Li Buqi is a Xixia spy, the Privy Council, Qun Mu Si and San Si may not agree.

(End of this chapter)