Out of the shop, Jin San looked back and said to Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng: "This shop next to it is extremely affordable and tastes good, and the two of you can go to his house to eat again." ”

Chen Xizhiqi said: "Outside the staff and this noble neighbor, it seems that they are familiar with each other. Do you usually move around? ”

Jin San said: "I don't know him, although the two stores are next to each other, I have never said a word. ”

Chen Xizhi felt even more strange: "If this is the case, why do you take such care of us so much?" ”

Jin San said: "First, his family's wine and food are really good, and the business is prosperous, and I also sent someone here to buy food." Again, the acquaintance of the master of this family with Du Jieshuai is beneficial to you. ”

"I see." Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng nodded together, understanding what Jin San meant.

Jin San attaches great importance to the relationship between Wang Pu and Du Zhongxiao, but he holds his own identity and never interacts with Wang Pu in person. just instructed his subordinates to maintain a good relationship with Wang Pu, and he may be able to use it in the future.

At this time, noon has passed, the sun is not strong, and it is the best time of the day. Here in Shengzhou, it is already extremely cold at night in August. At this time, it is just time to hang out, and after a few more hours, the cool breeze will rise.

When I arrived at the front of the mall, seeing that it was crowded with people, Lian Cheng said: "This place is so lively, I want to be extraordinary." I have also traveled to many places, but I have never seen a city with such a prosperous place. ”

Jin San said: "What is this! Shengzhou Xinli, no matter how prosperous it is, it can't compare with the mainland. Not to mention the big places in the Central Plains like Liangjing, which is the Bingzhou of Hedong Road next to it, it is also much more prosperous than Shengzhou. There are three shopping malls like this in the city, and each of them is more lively than here. ”

Chen Xizhi said: "It turns out that the staff has also been to Bingzhou!" ”

Jin San shook his head: "I want to go, but I can't go, so what?" I just heard from the businessmen who came and went, but unfortunately I couldn't see it with my own eyes. ”

Lian Chengdao: "I heard that Bingzhou is only a thousand miles away from here, and if you want to go, why not take a trip?" ”

Jin San sighed: "If we businessmen from other places want to go to the Central Plains, we must first submit a petition to the Shuai Mansion, and if we don't talk about trouble, we won't allow it at all." Unless you live here for a few years and have a guarantor, you can go to the Central Plains to see it. ”

Lian Cheng said: "The staff goes with the caravan, is there still someone on the road to check?" It's just that someone has checked and made up an identity. ”

Jin Sandao: "My lord, in Shengzhou, don't put away this thought, this is no better than the Western Regions." If you go to Bingzhou now, you must take a train, and you can't buy a train ticket without a certificate. If you don't take the train to Shengzhou, you will inevitably arouse suspicion, and you can't avoid it. ”

Lian Cheng and Chen Xizhi didn't know how to get on the train, where to buy tickets, and they didn't dare to ask more or talk nonsense.

Entering the mall, Jin San said: "There is a place where rice crackers and rice flowers are sold, let's go buy some and eat them on the way to relieve boredom." When I get here, I always have to buy some of these foods to pass the time on the way. ”

Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng didn't know what Jin San was talking about, as the past passed, it turned out that some of the white flowers were pressed into cakes, and some were grained. After asking, I found out that it was made of rice, but there were no such things in the Western Regions.

Jin San bought a few large bags and distributed them to Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng, as well as a few people with an entourage. While eating, I walked into the mall.

As soon as you enter the gate, you will be selling stationery. On one side is pen, ink, paper, inkstone, and on the other hand, there are various books, which are dazzling.

When Chen Xizhi saw it, he couldn't help but step forward to watch it in detail, and Jin Sanyi grabbed him: "My lord will live in Shengzhou City for a few days, just come and see it yourself in two days." Today, we are too late to take a closer look. ”

Jin San doesn't know how many times he has seen this place, and he has bought many sets of pen, ink, paper, and inkstones that are somewhat famous. The books on the other side can be recited by name, and they are all stored at home, so why do you go over to read them?

The Song Dynasty was an era of widespread books, and there had never been so many books on the market, and the prices had never been so cheap. But for ordinary people, pen, ink, paper, inkstone and books are still not cheap, and they are not affordable for ordinary people in the market. Du Zhongxiao used many methods to reduce the cost of printed matter, and books are still valuables, not something that ordinary people can buy casually. The best prints are New Year's pictures, calendars, etc., plus a villain book that is now popular. If the market is limited, there will be fewer goods, which is far less than the scale of later generations.

For people like Chen Xizhi, who was born in the Western Regions and can read and write, it is a good thing to have books to read, and he is not very picky. Chen Xizhi has lived for dozens of years, and he has read less than ten books in his life, so since he has seen it, of course he wants to take some back.

Shengzhou is in the border area, there are many foreign guests, and the shopping mall puts these in the place where they enter the door, showing their cultural taste, and clearly showing their own grades to others. This is not the case in shopping malls in the mainland, where the entrance is either fruit or clothing.

After the stationery area, it was followed by the Buddhist supplies area. For example, all kinds of Buddha statues, incense candles, scriptures, etc. are readily available, and there are even a few monks sitting, and I don't know what to do there.

The Buddha in the northwest is heavy, the river meandering road is newly established, and there are no temples, and these things are also sold in the shopping mall. It looks a little funny, but in fact, the business is very good, and many people who come from afar will bring some incense candles, Buddha statues and the like.

The Gaochang area originally believed in Manichaeism, but it was changed to Buddhism hundreds of years ago, and now it has become a Buddhist country. Especially after fighting with the Black Khan for more than 100 years, the trend of believing in Buddhism has become more popular, and everyone is worshipped, and everyone is a believer. After passing here, Chen Xizhi and Lian Chengdu clasped their hands together, extremely respectful.

The pen and ink books in front of them made them see the prosperity of the Central Plains, and the Buddhist supplies here were very kind.

Leaving the Buddhist area, followed by all kinds of clothes and accessories, Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng were dazzled. It's just that Jin San didn't stop, so they had to follow forward. It wasn't until he reached the place where sugar tea was sold that Jin San stopped and said, "Things here are rare in Gaochang, we can take a look." ”

Unlike the nomadic areas, Gaochang is agricultural, fruit-prolific, and not very fond of tea. Of course, as a custom handed down from the Central Plains, tea is also a daily drink, but it is not a necessity in life.

Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng stepped forward and looked at all kinds of tea, feeling dizzying. Each tea is in a large glass jar, next to a small cardboard, where the tea is produced, where it is produced, what characteristics it has, how it should be brewed and drunk, and of course, the price, which is very detailed. After seeing a limited variety of teas, the two of them realized why Jin San made tea so complacent just now. The best tea here is not Xinyang's Mingqian tea, and the most expensive one is already five taels of silver and one tael. This price is not a rich family, it is absolutely unaffordable, and it is not easy to smell it.

Jin San said to the two of them: "The good tea is picked in time and drunk in time, and the taste changes after a long time." Not a good commodity for us businessmen. If you come here, I heard that it is an aged tea produced in the Dongting area, and the older it is, the more fragrant it is, and the price is not as expensive. This kind of tea is different from what I just drank, and it is also delicious to add milk and sugar to it, and it can be sold to the Western Regions, or even to the river, and then to the West. ”

Chen Xizhi looked at the tea one by one, shook his head and said, "Isn't this the group tea I've seen before?" What's so strange. ”

Jin San said: "My lord, it looks similar, but this tea has two flavors, and it tastes like group tea." It can be drunk with milk, sugar, or brewed, and the taste is good. Tuan tea is steamed green, and it will decay after a long time. This is fermentation, and the longer it lasts, not only will it not decay, but the older it is, the more fragrant it becomes. ”

The two didn't know what it meant, they just heard Jin San say it there. This kind of fermented tea has a wide variety in later generations, the most famous is Pu'er tea, as well as black tea, white tea and many other names. The older it gets, the more fragrant it becomes, which Du Zhongxiao guided according to the impression in his memory. In fact, the biggest advantage of fermented tea is that it is convenient for long-distance trafficking, and it is especially suitable for grasslands and deserts. Another type of fermented tea is black tea, which is convenient for long-distance shipping.

Gaochang is not fond of tea, it does not mean that other places on the Silk Road are not fond of tea, and the farther he goes, the more he loves tea. Jin San understands that this is a big business opportunity. Especially with the sugar on the other side, it is a perfect match.

Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng are not businessmen, and after listening to Jin San's talk, they felt that this thing could make money, but they were not very interested. On the other side, Jin Sanyi talked about sugar, and on the other side, Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng's eyes couldn't help but widen.

Sugar has long existed in the Western Regions, even earlier than the Central Plains, where one of the ends of the trade route was India. This result is not only because shipping is not developed, at this time in India, many places are not open to trade routes, and the prosperous inland areas can only go to the Western Regions. There is sugar in the Western Regions, and it is deeply loved by the common people and nobles, but the price is extremely high, compared to gold and silver. Compared to tea, sugar can be regarded directly as a national wealth.

After looking at it for a while, Lian Cheng said: "The staff is so keen on this, I want to have useful intentions." ”

Jin San said: "I want to buy some sugar, and send it back to Gaochang as a gift along with the tea leaves over there." What do you two think? ”

Lian Chengdao: "Who doesn't like sweetness? Sugar as a gift is better than gold and silver, of course, it is a heavy gift. ”

Jin Sandao: "In the future, the railway will be repaired to Heishui City, and even to Yizhou, these good things that were rare in the past will be available, and the price is not expensive." Give gifts to the magnates of Gaochang to let them know the benefits of the trade route. ”

Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng nodded again and again. Gaochang people value wealth and goods, and these sugars, comparable to gold and silver, look particularly pleasing to the eye. It is the business of businessmen to make money by trafficking goods, and these things can be directly regarded as wealth, which is closely related to everyone.

What Jin San wanted was to let as many people as possible support him, not to fight, and to welcome the Song army into the Western Regions as soon as possible, so as to make everyone's fortune. The strange goods of the Central Plains were not brought to the two envoys to see, just to see these things that were the same as white flowers and silver.