The waiter said: "The big iron pot costs nine cents of silver, the small pot costs three cents and the kitchen knife costs two cents. The total is one, two or four cents of silver."
Qingyan was stunned, is it so expensive? She did some calculations and found out that one penny here was equivalent to one to two yuan in the future market. She calculated this based on the price of food. Generally speaking, food prices are equivalent to local prices.
That big sesame cake would cost at least one to two yuan in later generations, so she thought a penny for one was quite appropriate.
And one tael of silver is equivalent to one thousand yuan, one penny of silver is equivalent to one hundred, and these pots and knives are equivalent to one thousand four hundred yuan!
More than a thousand yuan to buy two pots and a kitchen knife is indeed a bit too expensive.
However, I also thought that the current productivity is very low, and iron tools seem to be still under the control of the government, and large-scale use and trading are not allowed, because they are used to make weapons, so I understand a little bit.
Sighing, she was not short of money anyway, so she happily paid the money.
When the boy and another man who was probably a blacksmith came out carrying a big pot, Qingyan was immediately shocked.
Depend on! Isn’t the twelve-yin pot the big wood-burning pot from back home? Why is it so big?
It feels like you can stew yourself. This is the kind of pot used to make banquet noodles in rural areas for weddings and weddings!
Sigh... Qingyan sighed again, forget it, the money has been paid, and it should be bigger. At most, try to use it in a place where no one is around.
I asked them to put the pot on the carriage. Fortunately, the small pot they took out later was not too small. It was enough to boil water and stir-fry vegetables, so I gave up the idea of buying another medium pot.
I took the kitchen knife from the waiter's hand. This kitchen knife still needs to be sharpened. Although it looks like it has an edge, it is not very sharp, so it still needs to be sharpened.
Another thing is to install a wooden handle on this kitchen knife. There is only an iron bar on the handle. It is not like the kind that has been made before. It is either a wooden handle or a plastic handle. Come to think of it, I am a blacksmith. If you don’t prepare a store for your customers, it’s impossible for them to prepare it for you.
Just like the farm tools, she remembered her grandfather saying that in the past, they could only buy the ends, and then they would press the wooden handles themselves after returning home.
In this case, you might as well buy what you want first, since it won’t be easy to store in the space anyway.
The big pot was almost filling the carriage shed. The main reason was that the carriage shed was not very high at that time. After all, it was made of straw mats, and the branches were not that long.
Thinking of the carpenter's shop that made furniture that I met when I came here just now, I wonder if they can help her make a wooden carriage. Even if she doesn't order it in advance, there should be ready-made boards and strips. She just needs to find out the length according to the size. She can install it herself.
If that doesn't work, you can just buy some wooden sticks there, and then go to the grocery store to buy some mats and oilcloths. Then you can do the same thing as the donkey cart.
We continued walking back, preparing to buy furs. There were no banks or pawnshops in this town. I didn’t know whether it was because the place was too poor and it was not worth opening a bank in such a remote town, or because there were no banks in this world yet.
She thinks it should be the former. Banks are usually in the form of a chain, at least in the county. Otherwise, the current communication is not developed and it is difficult to manage.
And in a small town like this, there are probably not many people who would save money in a bank.
Of course, another possibility is that another time and space has changed. If it were a time and space before the Song Dynasty in history, it would be normal for there to be no bank notes or anything like that.
When I arrived at the fur shop, I started looking around and bought a cowhide, as well as the brown-red fox skin I was looking for before, and I also bought a few sheepskins.
The sheepskin here is the cheapest, because most of the nearby villages raise sheep, and she plans to use the sheepskin to make quilts and mattresses.
I just asked about it when I was doing the cloth installation. There is no cotton seller here. If you want to buy it, you have to go to some big counties.
Today's cotton is generally used for weaving cloth. Quilts are too expensive and only rich people use them.
Most of the people here who have the conditions use this sheepskin to make fur coats or fur mattresses and quilts.
She felt that this place was similar to the northwest in later generations. Most of the livestock raised were cattle, sheep and donkeys.
In winter, in addition to fur coats, you mainly rely on the heated kang for warmth, so don’t even think about buying quilts here.
Although there are many cows here, cows cannot be slaughtered at will, so they can only get the hides if they die accidentally or from illness.
The cowhide was not much cheaper than the foxhide. These few skins cost her a total of eleven taels of silver, which was more than 10,000 yuan in future generations. This was a lot of money.
Roll up all the skins together and use the leather rope given by the seller to help, then go back to the previous shop that sells sesame cakes and directly wrap all the remaining sesame cakes.
The old man looked at her with bright eyes. He probably rarely met such big customers, but he didn't think she was strange. After all, these cakes can be used as dry food when going out, and people who go out will probably buy more. Yes, this thing is easy to store. Even if there is no space, it can be kept outside in this weather for about a week.
I bought thirty-two this time and put them into the basket first.
After buying the sesame cakes, I went to the cloth store and bought a piece of coarse cloth. You don’t need to buy the fine cotton cloth. There are some in Chou Chou Space, and the fine cotton cloth here is more expensive than the ones sold in Handeng before. Maybe it’s just the cotton cloth. As mentioned before, cotton is relatively scarce, so the cloth produced is not cheap.
Coarse cloth was much cheaper, costing only a penny a piece.
I still have to go to the tavern, mainly to inquire about the situation.
So when she arrived at Mijia Tavern, Qingyan parked the carriage on the side of the road and walked in with her satchel on her back.
This place is not like the restaurant in the big city. There is a special place for parking livestock carts in the back, but it is not that there is no place to park. There is an open space in front of the restaurant, and it is no problem to park two or three cars.
Moreover, this street is much wider than the East Street in Hancheng, but it is not paved with stone slabs, it is just an ordinary dirt road.
I understand, after all, it's just a town. Setting aside such a wide street is probably for the convenience of livestock carts and other things.
Just as she was thinking about it, a donkey cart stopped in front of the tavern. Qingyan stopped and looked over there.
There must be a family on the donkey cart, including two young people, a boy and a girl, a young couple, an old lady and a child of two or three years old.
There were a lot of salutes on the donkey cart, it must have been a family outing.
The donkey pulling the cart was different from the one she saw. It was light gray, a very light gray.
Most of the donkeys I saw before were dark, either brown or black. It’s not like I’ve never seen gray donkeys before. I’ve seen them all on TV, but they’re not so light. I don’t know what this place is. Variety.
And it was smaller than the donkey he bought before, not to mention the wild donkey that Chou Chou got in the mountains before. It was quite strong, and the people who were pulling the family didn't see its legs trembling.
The wild donkeys before were very similar to those in Xiangxiang Space, but they were not as smart as those in Xiangxiang Space. There was no other way. They all grew up drinking spiritual spring water, and the grass they ate had spiritual energy. Of course, they were monkey spirits.
I don’t know who she learned it from. She even gave her mother a flower in her mouth. In front of her father, she made her father so angry that she often said she wanted to eat donkey meat and burn it.
The animals in Xiangxiang Space were originally used for food, such as black pigs and black goats. Later, after they were raised for a long time, they became spiritual and no longer regarded them as food. All the animals were bought ready-made from outside. of meat.
Because Xiangxiang looked like a small black pig, her parents initially thought they were the offspring of the black pigs they kept inside. They were afraid of eating its parents, so they released them into the mountains. Those pigs eventually became wild boars in the mountains. .
If it weren't for Xiangxiang's control, the pigs on the mountain would probably be overrun.
How is it controlled, you ask? Of course, the boars were gelded to prevent them from leaving seeds everywhere.
Seeing that the family should also be here for dinner, Qingyan stopped paying attention and continued walking inside.
The pub is not big, with only six tables, all square, with four benches per table.
There were people inside now. She just glanced at her watch secretly. It was ten past eleven, which was exactly the time for dinner.
When the boy saw someone coming in, he hurriedly greeted him, "Girl, you want to have a meal, how many are there in total?"
Qingyan nodded and said, "It's just me. My carriage is outside, so I'll just sit by the window."
Boy: "Okay, then you can sit at the table on the left. This one is closest to the window."
It is said to be a seat by the window, but it is not like the later generations where you can only sit on both sides of the seat next to the window. In that case, the utilization rate is not high. Instead, a table is placed closer to the window, which is still four benches.
Qingyan thanked him, sat facing the window, and said to him: "I will look at the menu and order. You go ahead and do your work. I will call you if I need anything."
Seeing that she could read, the waiter nodded and rushed to greet the family who came in behind Qingyan.
He said he was looking at the carriage outside, but he was actually just pretending. Chou Chou was watching, so it was impossible for anyone to steal it.
Directly opposite Qingyan was the counter, and sitting inside was a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties. He must be the shopkeeper.
Qingyan first opened a pottery cup on the table, picked up the pottery pot and poured a glass of water. She didn't drink it, she just left it there to let people know that the seat was occupied, so as not to occupy it if someone else came in.
Then he got up and walked to the counter. First he looked at the menu signs hanging behind him, which were long wooden signs hanging on the wall with the names of the dishes written on them and the prices below.
Seeing her like this, the shopkeeper said with some surprise in his tone: "It's really rare for a girl to have read a book."
After speaking, he glanced at the carriage outside, his eyes paused on the horse, and when he looked at Qingyan again, there was a look of understanding on his face.
Anyone who can afford a horse must have a good family background, and it is not surprising that a woman can read and write.
Although there is a menu, most of them are for themselves to see, so that they can't remember the dishes every day. The customers usually listen to the waiter or him to announce the names of the dishes.
There are not many dishes, only six dishes in total. It seems that there are not many choices.
Moreover, Qingyan also discovered that there were no stir-fried dishes in this tavern. They were all braised, steamed, stewed, and boiled.
"I studied with my brothers at home for a while when I was a child, and I know a few words."
Qingyan said modestly.
Then I chose a stewed lamb, a braised lamb head, and a bowl of lamb soup.
She and her mother have been to the northwest. The most famous thing there is the braised lamb, which is particularly delicious. The main reason is that the breeds of sheep there are different. I wonder if this is the same kind? You can have a taste.
After asking the shopkeeper, she found out that these were stewed in advance and could be put on the plate directly without waiting. She didn't order the food to be taken away in advance. She thought she would pretend to go to the car to take down the food box before leaving. Just pack it for them.
Of course, the premise is that it tastes delicious.
While waiting, he chatted with the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, when I went to other shops to buy things, I heard that you are the most knowledgeable person in Xifeng Town, so I wanted to ask you about something. I wonder if it’s convenient?”
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "I don't dare to take it, I don't dare to take it. If you have anything you want to ask, just ask. If I know something, I will tell you."
As expected, he is a business person and can understand everything.
Qingyan didn't mince words and said directly: "I originally wanted to go to Tianshui City to join my relatives, but while walking, I went in the wrong direction. After asking many people, they couldn't tell me clearly, so I kept walking along the road. Here it comes.
So I want to ask the shopkeeper, does he know how to get to Tianshui City today? "
The shopkeeper was stunned when he heard this, and said with a smile on his face: "The girl did go in the wrong direction. Shuicheng and our place were completely in two directions that day. Our side is to the east, and Tianshui City is going to the south. But if we go from here I'm afraid it won't be easy if you go there. There's a big river blocking it, so you have to go around it.
You have to walk about forty or fifty miles to the west. There is a road there, but I heard that the foreigners there are not doing well this year, and they come to fight the autumn wind. There are small wars from time to time. You, a woman, are too risky.
If time is not urgent, it is better to take a detour. From here, go more than a hundred miles east. There is a stone bridge at the narrowest part of the river. The girl can cross there. Then walk more than a hundred miles west to reach Tianshui City. .
Speaking of which, if we could cross the river from our place, it would only be thirty or forty miles away, but the river was blocking the way and the water was so fast that it was impossible to cross it by boat. "
Qingyan thought that it was indeed the same as what Chou Chou had detected with her spiritual sense. So, the road to Tianshui City was to the west. It should have passed the previous mountain. Maybe it was just across the mountain from where they were before. .
Qingyan nodded to the shopkeeper and thanked her. As for what dynasty she was in now, she didn't dare to ask. It was a bit too fake. She didn't even know what dynasty she was in, so it was a bit strange. .
This can only be revealed by insinuations or listening to what others said. Of course, there is no hope for this kind of tavern, and I still want to go to the big city.
You don’t necessarily have to go to Tianshui City. You can continue to go east. There are battlefields in the northwest, which means it is already the border of this country. There is definitely nothing wrong with going east.
Of course, it was right to go south, but she felt there was no need to cross the river and go around for hundreds of miles.
(End of chapter)
