Otherwise, people feel refreshed when happy events happen, and when things are accomplished, Zhang Han felt that even the air he breathed was particularly sweet along the way.
He Lin
As the seat of the Mongolian Khan's Court, it is not surrounded by walls like other cities. At first glance, the continuous group of tents has the characteristics of the grassland people.
It’s not that there are no buildings made of other materials besides tents. This was indeed the case before Mongolia was founded.
Later, with the conquest and expansion of the Mongol Empire in the Eurasian continent, subjects from other regions came to live in the capital of Helin, and built various structures with different styles on the grasslands that originally had only tents. Buildings.
"Let's take a walk and take a look! The steamed cakes are freshly steamed."
"Sir, I've invited you here! A batch of Shaoxing's daughter reds just came from over there. Your Majesty, you've come to the right place today..."
"Ready-made linen garments are strong and durable! Distinguished guest, give one to your beautiful lady, God will praise her!"
"..."
Zhang Han and two guards were walking on the largest commercial street south of Helin City.
There are Han Chinese wine shops with red tiles and cornices, Central Asian business houses with domes and white walls, and Eastern European dessert shops with white pillars and sharp corners.
To be honest, although Zhang Han has been in Mobei Khan Court for almost half a year, except when he first came to live in Subotai's house, he, Li Xiaohu, and Wang Danian purchased some daily necessities here. The rest of the time is either on duty or practicing martial arts. My schedule is so full every day that I don’t even have time to go shopping. This is the second time I have visited Zhanghan, a commercial street in Nancheng.
Zhang Han, who had been here once, still found everything in front of him strange.
It is hard to imagine that on a commercial street in the 13th century, people of most races in the world could be seen.
Europeans with high noses and deep eyes, Arabs with black pupils and curly hair, black Africans with only visible teeth, Han Chinese with long hair tied in blue robes, Mongolians with tall felt hats, etc.
People of all races are doing their own jobs. The harmonious Zhang Han even feels like he has once again crossed hundreds of years and arrived in the Han people's dream, Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty.
This is not the Tang Dynasty Chang'an of the Han people, but the Helin capital of the Mongolian Empire.
When he thought of this, Zhang Han felt empty in his heart. He even lost interest in the dancing of gauze in front of him and the performance of Orchid with an amazing figure.
Due to the city's regulations, it was not allowed to ride horses in the city, so Zhang Han and the two servants behind him did not gallop like usual, but led the horses one behind the other and walked slowly through the commercial street.
Xu Shi saw Zhang Han's two servants carrying sabers, and the three of them were not dressed like ordinary people. When people on the street saw this, they all made way for their masters and servants to pass.
Therefore, although Zhang Han and the others were leading their horses, they were not walking slowly.
Unconsciously, the commercial street in the south of the city gradually faded away behind the three of them, and the hustle and bustle of hawking on the street also left their ears.
Zhang Han and the others mounted their horses and ran towards the east of the city.
The east of the city is different from the south of the city. If the south of the city is the commercial center and prosperous area of Helin. Then the east of the city is a dirty place where the three religions and nine streams gather, a place where filth and evil practices are hidden.
The reason why I say this is not because most of the people working here are low-level coolies, but because the east side of the city is dominated by three industries;
Livestock trading, slave trading, weapon making.
Let’s not talk about the livestock trading and weapon making. The main thing is the slave trade here that makes Zhang Han uncomfortable.
In his previous life, the feudal society was broken, but after traveling through time, he actually saw the bad habits of the slave era.
Zhang Han had no choice but to respond. There is a market, which means there is demand. There seem to be more people in the east of the city than in the south, Wuyang Wuyang.
Huge demand and massive flow of people have led to a familiar profession - intermediary - active here. Oh! The current name should be Yaren.
The Ya people have a long history, with records dating back to the Western Zhou Dynasty in China. At that time, this kind of intermediary was called "hostage". In the Western Han Dynasty, it was called "dunji". After the Tang Dynasty, it was uniformly called "yaren".
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the further growth of the commercial economy, the number of Ya people increased greatly, and a specialized guild was formed called "Ya Xing". During the Republic of China, the Ya people developed further, and some of the Ya people who resold foreign goods were given a new name "comprador" by the Chinese.
Due to their natural pursuit of profit, Ya people are often cunning, and may cause dangers such as invading the people, deceiving and dominating the market, extorting money, exploiting profits, charging high commissions, and harming the interests of both parties. The people's government began to rectify and ban the dental industry. After the exchange was established, Yahang and Yaren gradually disappeared from public view.
Later, commercial intermediary organizations that replaced Yaxing mainly existed in the form of various exchanges, trust companies, brokers, etc.
Zhang Han's purpose of coming to the east of the city today is inseparable from the three major industries here.
Because he knew that there was going to be a war, Zhang Han wanted to select a group of loyal guards to protect him, the kind of "housekeepers" like during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Now that Zhang Han has held the position of Qianhu in Qixue's army, does he still need the protection of his own soldiers? The answer is "lack".
The reason why Zhang Han wants to recruit servants is because the servants have three qualities that his own soldiers have: "loyalty", "force value" and "growth".
What kind of person can have these three conditions at the same time?
Zhang Han already had an idea in mind, that is, young people, to be precise, young men over 15 and under 20 years old, full of energy.
Moreover, Zhang Han planned to make 30 of them at once, taking advantage of the period before the Western Expedition to practice hard.
As soon as I entered the slave market, I saw large and small tents full of people. From time to time, slaves were taken out of the tents by traffickers. For onlookers to choose from. Zhang Han was dazzled by the sight of these slaves, including men, women, old people and children.
After dismounting, Zhang Han handed the horse over to the servant behind him. After choosing the place with the most people, he slipped in through the gap in the crowd.
I saw a man in black clothes with a centipede-like scar on his face, plucking the mouth of a blond woman and introducing her to the onlookers in a loud voice;
"Authentic white female slave, a trophy of the European Roman Empire, only fourteen years old.
Look at this pretty face, look at this fair skin, and look at these neat teeth. We are all experts, so there is no need for you to say more about the quality of the goods, right? "
As soon as the scar-faced trafficker finished speaking, several people immediately walked out of the crowd and stepped forward to grope the slave girl all over her body. Not only was this scarred man not annoyed, he even let the customers inspect the goods with a wide grin.
In Zhang Han's eyes, when faced with the touch and comments of strangers, the young white girl had no intention of resisting at all. Zhang Han could only see one emotion in his eyes - numbness!
Suddenly, a fat man dressed as Han Chinese among the inspectors shouted loudly;
"Isn't this right? Let me tell you, Scar, this woman is not a child at first glance. She can only be treated as a prostitute after she is brought back. You are asking for twenty taels of silver, which is too dark!"
When the scarred man heard this, the smile on his face quickly disappeared, and he sneered at the fat man with a look of disdain; "Twenty taels can only buy this kind of quality. Go and find out, when have I ever let a guest eat it?" deficit?
Shopkeeper Dong! If you don't like it, don't block the eyes of other customers. If you want a child, you can look elsewhere.
Don't blame me for not reminding you that the price of a child with the same appearance is ten times higher. "
After Scarface finished speaking, he stretched out two fingers and shook them towards the other party in a tenfold gesture.
Shopkeeper Dong was about to open his mouth to say something when he saw the scarred man glare at him with a rather unkind look. Seeing that he couldn't get any advantage, he had no choice but to wave his sleeves angrily and squeeze out of the crowd.
Zhang Han glanced curiously in the direction the other party left.
After shopkeeper Dong got out of the crowd, he spat in the direction of the scarred man, then staggered towards the tent next to him. It seems that he will continue to look for new things.
In the end, the white female slave was bought by a customer dressed as Hu Shang. After watching the two people settle the money and the Hu Shang left with the newly bought female slave with a smile on his face, Zhang Han immediately opened his mouth and stopped the knife who turned into the tent. Scarface.
"Kosajian, right? Don't be busy first, I have something to do with you." Zhang Han's voice was quite arrogant when he spoke.
His arrogant posture quickly attracted everyone's attention to himself.
Scarface stopped when he heard the shout. Maybe it was the business that was done just now, or maybe it was the identity of Qianhu that Zhang Han mentioned.
The trafficker named Xosajian turned around and no longer had the cold and stern expression on his face when he was talking to Shopkeeper Dong. I saw his scarred face quickly squeezed out an ugly smile, trotted over to Zhang Han, clasped his fists, saluted, and asked;
"The general has a sharp eye. May I ask where you serve? What orders do you have for the villain?"
Zhang Han glanced sideways at the other party and said calmly: "Zhang is serving in the Qianxue army and is the consort of Princess Gao Gao. It's clear enough! I'm here to make a deal with you today. Find a secluded place quickly. "
Scarface was surprised when he heard this, and then he was overjoyed.
At this moment, this guy can't see the slightest bit of ferocity just now. After knowing Zhang Han's identity, his face is filled with only flattery;
'The villain guessed that he would have good luck today in the morning. He didn't know where this good luck came from. Unexpectedly, a noble man came to the door. The noble man quickly followed the villain. After saying that, he bent down and stretched out his hand to invite Zhang Han to enter the tent with him. Before leaving, he turned around and bowed to the crowd behind him;
"Sorry everyone, that's all for today. There are distinguished guests arriving. You can come back tomorrow."
Zhang Han turned around and gave instructions to the servants outside the crowd, then followed Kosajian towards the tent. It wasn't until the two figures disappeared into the tent in front of them that the crowd of onlookers exploded.
