The fifth day of February, morning.
Under the escort of more than a hundred Banzhi cavalry, Zhao Mengqi took Zhao Yu out of the palace in a carriage.
A hundred miles of distance would only take half a day if the horse was galloping, but a normal trip would definitely not be so hasty, so we set out one day in advance.
Zhao Mengqi's carriage was of high quality, with five horses pulling it, and the carriage was quite spacious, one foot long and seven feet wide, luxurious and magnificent.
After leaving Hening Gate, Zhao Mengqi asked Huang Gou, "Where can I buy cats and dogs in the city?"
"There are several markets north of Chaotianmen, and the best one is at the flower market." Huang Gou paused, "Alang, do you want to buy a pet?"
Zhao Mengqi rubbed Zhao Jian's head and said with a smile, "Well, Jian Niang likes kittens, go buy her one."
Huang Gou couldn't help but smile bitterly and persuaded, "Alang, it's not appropriate for us to go like this. Not to mention so many guards of honor, with our carriage, it will be inconvenient to go to the market, not to mention it is easy to disturb the people, but the censor knows about it. , Adding trouble."
"Fourth brother, it's better not to go. You can ask the palace people to buy it someday and give it to Jian Niang." Zhao Jian also advised.
Zhao Mengqi hesitated, and then Huang Gou thought, "Alang, actually when we go to the dock after leaving the city, we have to pass through a grass market. There are some merchants there who sell some rare and rare items, and there may be cats and dogs."
Thinking of the inconvenience of such a big ostentation, Zhao Mengqi had no choice but to accept this suggestion.
After walking north along Yujie for one mile, we turned east, passed Dengpingfang and Sifangguan, and soon left Lin'an City through Houchao Gate.
Not to mention, such a short journey is indeed quite disturbing to the people. Although the royal family of the Song Dynasty is more down-to-earth, it is not a patrol in disguise, so the proper guard of honor is still indispensable.
There was no deliberate driving, and pedestrians on the road also gave way to each other. This was because there were fewer ordinary people near the imperial city, so there was no panic.
When they arrived at the grass market, Zhao Mengqi still failed to achieve his wish. Huang Gou persuaded him, "Alang, it's still too messy outside. You'd better not get out of the car. Go in and take a look. If there are any for sale, bring them over and let me choose." , what do you think?"
He didn't feel it in the palace, but as soon as he went out, Zhao Mengqi immediately felt the troubles of being in a high position. There were too many restrictions and he couldn't be free at all, but he had no choice but to say, "Okay, okay, you don't have to bring them all, ordinary ones" Forget it, it won’t be too much trouble.”
Huang Gou brought a few people into the grass market. Zhao Yu stood on the car window, his face full of expectation and joy.
About a quarter of an hour later, Huang Gou came back with a group of people noisily. Zhao Mengqi looked over and saw six or seven businessmen, some from the Shang Dynasty and some from the Song Dynasty. Behind them were twenty or thirty young men, carrying or carrying various large and small things. There are small cages for not only cats, but also dogs, rabbits, and birds.
Seeing a lot of sergeants with helmets and armors here, they didn't look panicked, but they were a little embarrassed. The guys were still in the mood to chat.
"Which noble man is this? It's so grand."
"Aren't you illiterate? Didn't you see it written on the ceremonial sign, this is King Zhong."
The literacy rate in the Song Dynasty was quite high, especially around Lin'an. People who were illiterate were easily laughed at.
"Silly King?"
"Pah!" The boy in green clothes received a slap on the back of his head.
The one who beat him was a middle-aged man, "Are you tired of living? Is this what you can call me?"
The boy in green shrank his head and continued to mutter, "Don't all those gentlemen, officials and gentry call them that?"
"I am a scholar and a scholar-official. Who are you? Can you compare? If you want to live longer, be more respectful to noble people!"
"Oh, thanks for the lesson, uncle, I realized my mistake."
However, the middle-aged man chuckled at this moment, "If you do business with Prince Zhong, the shopkeeper will probably make a lot of money. Rumor has it that Prince Zhong can't even count..."
It seems that while this middle-aged man is lecturing others, he actually has no respect for the fool King Zhong.
Under the command of Huang Gou and the maintenance of the Banzhi guards, the open space in front of the carriage was immediately filled with cages, and the various animals inside were screaming lively.
The noise gave Zhao Mengqi a headache, but Zhao Yun was beaming with joy, happily choosing among the cages.
Soon, Zhao Han found what he liked, "I want this!"
Zhao Mengqi walked over and took a look. He saw that it was a white cat with long pointed ears and long hair. It looked like a Persian cat and a civet cat. The most special thing was that its two eyes were different colors. The blue eye was crystal clear and the yellow eye Glittering gold, as clear and transparent as a gem.
She was indeed pretty, and she seemed to have a docile temperament. The white color also looked particularly clean, so Zhao Mengqi nodded in agreement.
The owner of the cargo was a merchant, probably an Arab, and Song's words were pretty good, "Noble sir, this cat is the result of an accidental combination of the breed from my hometown and the breed from the Song Dynasty. There should be only one like this in the world. A scholar gave it to me the day before yesterday." It's called 'Lion Cat with Mandarin Duck Eyes', I think it's pretty good..."
"Okay, I get it." Zhao Mengqi understood that this guy just wanted to increase his worth by saying so much, "The price will satisfy you."
They were still talking here, but Zhao Han couldn't wait to open the cage, hold the lion cat in his arms, and giggle.
When he saw his elder brother looking over, he smiled cheerfully, and then became a little shy, "Fourth brother, Jian Niang likes a few more things, is that okay?"
Since he is a maniac about doting on his sister, he will dote on her to the end. Zhao Mengqi waved his hand grandly, "It doesn't matter, as long as you like it, feel free to choose."
But the result was beyond his expectation, and he finally realized that he had underestimated this sister.
"This, and this, well, this is also pretty,..."
Zhao Han held the cat in her arms and wandered among the cages. When she saw one she liked, she pointed her finger at it. Huang Gou followed behind, directing the small yellow door to pick out the one she chose.
A puppy, two rabbits, a golden carp, a parrot, a few crickets, and a turtle...
Zhao Mengqi stroked his forehead and said, "Mother Jian, are you going to open a zoo?"
Zhao Han suddenly blinked, "Fourth brother, what is a zoo?"
can not say! If this was told to future generations of zoos, there is no guarantee that Zhao Han would really want it.
"It's nothing, nothing. Have you picked it up? We have to hurry and can't take many with us."
Zhao Jian still has unfinished ideas, but she doesn't have an insatiable temper. She chose so many choices today because her brother was too pampering and indulgent, allowing her to show off her natural instincts.
"That's it then... Hehe, fourth brother is so nice."
Zhao Mengqi looked at the pile of cages and jars and felt that this woman's shopping instinct has existed since ancient times.
When it was time to pay, he remembered that he had no money, so he felt embarrassed. He touched it and found that only the Panlong jade pendant hanging on his waist could be used as money, so he took it off and handed it to Huang Gou, "Take it to them." Accounting."
"Alang, this is impossible. If you give it to them, they won't dare to ask for it." Huang Gou hurriedly hung it back for him.
A group of businessmen also secretly laughed. This jade is naturally of the highest quality and can easily be worth thousands of dollars. But are the patterns engraved on it usable by ordinary people? This loyal king was not only taken advantage of, but also really stupid.
They seem to have a lot of goods, but except for the strange and rare lion cat, the others are not very expensive, and even if they are all counted, they do not exceed fifty guan.
You know, an acre of high-quality farmland would not cost more than ten guan. They made a lot of money out of these 50 guan.
After hanging up the jade pendant for Zhao Mengqi, Huang Gou took out a stack of jiaozi from his arms and said, "Alang, I brought money with me because I went out."
Zhao Mengqi casually took out one, took a look at it, and saw that it was one hundred guan, and then handed it to the market leader who came with the merchant, "This should be enough, I have to go on my way, and I don't have time to calculate carefully, so you divide it among them. Remember, if someone is dissatisfied with your allocation, you will have to weigh the consequences yourself."
He has consulted so many books, so he naturally knows the price and value of money, but he is not a person who is short of money, so he should treat it as a reward if he gives more.
In the eyes of others, he was taken advantage of. Huang Gou hesitated to speak. Seeing him turn around, he stopped trying to persuade him.
The banknotes issued in the Southern Song Dynasty actually depreciated very quickly over time. The degree of depreciation varied depending on the edition of issuance. The earliest one that could still be circulated was probably only one-tenth of the face value, but the one Zhao Mengqi gave was the latest one. , worth more than 90%.
Zhao Mengqi got on the carriage and continued walking to the dock. He only left Lin'an City with another piece of conversation material and pressed the fool's hat more tightly on his head.
The reason why we need to go to the dock is because there is no bridge on the Qiantang River at this time, so we have to use a boat to cross it.
They had so many horses and carriages that they needed a big ship. Fortunately, the Song Dynasty's shipbuilding technology was not bad, and a two thousand stone ship was enough to transport the entire team.
At this time, the Qiantang River was very different from that of later generations. From Lin'an to the northeast, it was a straight, trumpet-shaped outlet to the sea, instead of turning into a several-shaped bay like later generations.
Mount Zhe is still on the north bank of the Qiantang River. In later generations, a large part of the Qiantang District was still under the water.
The advantage of this is that it is more convenient to go to sea and ship to and from sea, which is conducive to maritime trade.
It took an hour to cross the river, mainly because it was more troublesome to get off the boat immediately. In fact, the water network in the south of the Yangtze River is dense, and it is also possible to take a boat directly from Lin'an to Shaoxing. However, considering safety, it is safer to take the land route.
Prince Rong's Mansion will be built in Shaoxing because both brothers of the Zhao Guan family were born here, which is equivalent to their hometown, and their biological father is also buried here. The Zhao Guan family also built a large-scale mausoleum.
After crossing the river, they walked eastward along the official road. Before the sun set, Zhao Mengqi and his party arrived at the Yingen Gate, the west gate of Shaoxing Fucheng.
However, the city gate is actually closed!
Zhao Mengqi looked at the closed city gate and was shocked, "It's locked so early!?"
Huang Gou was equally puzzled, "Although city gates are opened and closed in different places, there is no reason why they should be closed before the sun sets during non-war times."
"Haha!" Zhao Mengqi thought for a while and came to some understanding, "I'm afraid it's aimed at me. His power is a bit arrogant now."
