It was already evening when the brothers and sisters of the Yelu family arrived in Yuhang by car, but they did not come with Zhao Rong because Zhao Rong still needed to accompany Zhao Zhen there, so they were allowed to come by themselves.
"Brother, do you think that if more things are put on the city wall that day, given time, our Liao Kingdom can still win?"
After they came here, both of them used Han names. First, although Song and Liao were said to be brotherly countries, the Song people actually didn't like the Liao people. If they used Yelu's name, they would still encounter some trouble. So they simply used Chinese names.
In fact, Brother Zhang has no idea about Liao people and Jin people, because from the genetic map, the Liao people and Jin people are northern Han people. The genetic maps of the northern and southern Han people are highly similar. Although the cultures are different due to regional differences, the northern and southern Han people The Fang and Han people are essentially the same species, so in terms of appearance, if he wears Liao clothes, he is Bibala Zhao Jingzhong, and if he wears Han clothes, he is Feng Ying.
In addition, the Liao people themselves are completely Chineseized. After all, they intend to inherit the unification. As princes and princesses, they need to learn Chinese from an early age. They both speak pure Chinese Mandarin. Those who don’t know what they say think they are Chinese. Where did the old rulers come from? Compared with the current Wuyue speaking area where Wu Nong soft language is everywhere, they look like orthodox Central Plains people.
Yelu Jun's Chinese name is Xiao Jun, and Yelu Tri's Chinese name is Xiao Rong. They are brothers and sisters, and both are the children of Yelu Hongji and Xiao Guanyin. Yelu Jun is the father of Yelu Yanxi, the subjugated king of the Liao Kingdom. Feng Shunzong of Liao Dynasty.
When Xiao Jun heard his sister's question, he sat in the carriage and pondered for a long time. Before that night, he actually had no possibility of feeling that Song Guo was a threat, but since that night, he knew that some things had quietly changed.
It is true that the Liao Kingdom is very strong, and can even be said to be the strongest in the world now. The Song Kingdom is just an ordinary enemy to them, and the Jin people who just so-called rose up a few days ago are just a group of uncivilized people. The barbarians were not even looked down upon by them.
But the fall of 30,000 people that night made them realize one thing, that is, if there is another war between Song and Liao, whether they have the ability to defeat the Song people as they did before.
The answer is unknown, and this unknown is still a relatively optimistic answer, because Xiao Jun knows in his heart that his strongest cavalry cannot rush within a hundred steps in front of those iron rods. The strongest shooter in the Liao Kingdom Even with all my strength, an arrow cannot reach half of the range.
On the frontal battlefield, even if the Liao Kingdom had 300,000 and 500,000, the final outcome would be to be wiped out like the rebels that night.
This was also the reason why he had to come to the magical place of Yuhang to see it, because it was said that those terrifying weapons that shattered people's beliefs were all produced from this place.
As soon as the carriage entered the city gate, they were led by the local guide to the best hotel in the city. Because Yuhang is becoming more and more prosperous, many related service industries have actually begun to emerge here. For example, as the number of tourists continues to increase, the profession of guides has naturally appeared in the city. They are familiar with every corner of the city and which restaurants are delicious. , Which hotel is good to stay in, which place is cheap, and which place is ripping off guests, these people all know the best.
Strictly speaking, this should be the first generation of professional tour guides, but now they don't have a standard to restrict them, and they all rely on consciousness. And their method of attracting tourists is to stand at the gate of the city and wait for tourists to enter the city while waiting for verification.
The Yelu brothers and sisters chose a guide, and this guide was more responsible. The first thing he did was to take them to stay in the largest hotel in the city.
After arriving here, there was nothing particularly surprising to the Yelu brothers and sisters, because they were people who had seen the world, and they had not seen the main street of Yuhang at night.
The only thing that surprised them was that the buildings here were very tall and huge. There were many high-rise buildings with more than seven floors, and this grand hotel even had nine floors. Nine floors, this is already the highest level. Generally speaking, only the royal family can use the floors, but it seems that there are not many restrictions here.
"It's so bright."
After Xiao Rong walked into the lobby, she looked at the lights above her head in surprise. The bright lights made her eyes blur, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.
At this time, the guide had already opened a room for them. After knowing that they were brother and sister, he specially opened a suite for them. There were two suites in one room, which was very suitable.
"If you two believe me, I will go and exchange the money for you into commercial bills to facilitate your purchase."
"Business ticket?"
"This commercial ticket is a pass for our territory. You can exchange it for goods at the merchants in this territory. There is a number on the commercial ticket. It is always the same. It can leave a lot of things."
"In that case, I'll go with you."
After all, they are the prince and the princess. When they travel, they will also take a few guards and servants with them. In the past, the money used to buy things was carried by the servants, but if they fancy something big, they have to You can only exchange it with gold. After all, it's okay to pay tens or hundreds of coins, but it's not so convenient if you pay thousands of coins.
Xiao Jun was also quite curious about this business ticket, so he followed the guide to the local chamber of commerce in Yuhang. There was a day and night window here, so he could easily redeem the business ticket no matter what time of day he came, which was very convenient.
If a one-time payment of 100,000 guan is made, the store will also give some small gifts, such as paying for the guest's room and board at a designated inn for the next few days. The service is quite good.
And when they came to the main street where the window of the Chamber of Commerce was located, the two of them felt that their eyes were blurred, as if they were in a dream. The street was as bright as day, and even though it was dark, the lights were still there. During the day, there is a lot of traffic. The shops and hawkers on the roadside extend from the street to the corner. The sound of bargaining has never stopped. Bulk goods are pulled by oxcarts through the middle of the street. There are not only merchants dressed in Liao Dynasty, but also people from farther away. Local merchants are not unusual, and there are even caravans from the Western Regions setting up tents along the street.
Seeing the scenes in front of them, the two brothers and sisters of the Yelu family couldn't help but said nothing for a long time, as if the prosperous Chang'an they read in Tang poetry came to life again, with astonishing joy and prosperity, which they had never experienced before. Nowhere to be seen.
As a prince of a country, Xiao Jun saw not only the prosperity on the surface, but also the co-ordination, operation and planning capabilities behind this prosperity. Behind the prosperity must mean political proficiency and people's harmony. And extending further is the unparalleled support and maintenance capabilities in this region.
Only in this way can so many people be willing to travel so far to sell and buy things here.
But these are all the things that the prince thinks about, and the princess doesn’t care about that. Xiao Rong has never seen so many novelties in the Liao Kingdom, because the Liao Kingdom pays more attention to military than the Song Dynasty. Although it has a powerful army, people’s livelihood is not It is indeed inferior to others in terms of quality. Although the capital of the Liao Kingdom is now in Luoyang and has its own east and west markets, if she had never seen the Long Street Market here, Xiao Rong would probably think that the market in Luoyang was the best in the world.
At this time, the guide next to him said: "This is a night market. It usually sells gadgets and food. If you really want to buy something, you have to go to the distribution center during the day. That place has all the goods in the world, and the prices are reasonable. Some prices It’s even cheaper than their local counterparts.”
"Why is it so cheap?" Xiao Jun asked curiously: "Doesn't the wear and tear on the road count?"
"Then I don't know. I haven't discussed it before, so I don't know the mystery."
At this time, Xiao Rong had already run far away. She didn't even realize that she had run so far, and now she was following a few girls at a stall selling rouge and gouache to try out colors.
It's okay for girls to be naive, but that's not the case for men. Xiao Jun's face is now frowning, and he has a thousand twists and turns in his heart. He kicked the road under his feet which was as solid as a rock but flat enough to reflect light, and The expressions of the neat two- and three-story buildings around and the soldiers patrolling back and forth on the streets gradually became anxious and uneasy.
Because he knows that the more prosperous the Song Dynasty is, the higher the probability of war between the two countries in the future. The current Emperor Song may not, but he is already old after all, and he doesn’t know how many more years he can be the emperor. What about the new emperor? No one knows what will happen to Emperor Song.
"Brother! Brother!"
At this time, Xiao Rong called her brother from a distance. Xiao Jun walked over quickly, only to find that she was already standing in front of a stall selling kitchen knives and scissors. There were seventeen or eight different styles of knives. There are so many, the expensive ones can be sold for five or six hundred cents, and the cheap ones can even come with a pair of scissors for nine cents.
Xiao Jun has loved swords since he was a child. He is very familiar with these things. Most of the knives in the Liao Kingdom are still cast iron knives, but he found that here are actually stainless steel knives. These are obviously just kitchen knives, but no matter the steel, Neither the quality nor the forging process can be compared with that of the Liao Kingdom. He picked up one and tried it before he realized that using such good steel to forge a knife was simply... a waste of natural resources. What was even more annoying was that the Liao Kingdom had such a sword. The sword costs at least ten pieces of gold, but here it only costs three to five hundred gold.
After that, they also went to see those luxury stores that were causing harm to the Liao Kingdom. The most famous ones were clothing, glassware, and porcelain. For example, in the Liao Kingdom, a beautiful silk dress cost about thirty pounds. Thirty pounds. …That’s the harvest of an average farmer in three years, before tax. But the wealthy people in the city were so attracted to it that it would be shameful not to wear a silk skirt produced in Yuhang, Song Dynasty.
And the price of the glazed ware is even more outrageous. A few days ago, before the two brothers came here, there were people in the market in Luoyang who were bidding up the glazed Buddha for 80,000 guan. The shop here is larger than that and has better craftsmanship. Even the luxurious Buddha statue with a ring of gold on the outside is only thirty pieces.
After crossing a river, the value increased more than two thousand times? Or do you mean that bullying the people of Liao is too stupid to make a lot of money?
"This dress is so cheap!"
Xiao Rong was in the silk shop next to the Liuli shop and screamed in shock after seeing the label on it: "Just three pieces! Brother, buy it, buy it, buy it! I want this skirt!"
Seeing the way his sister's eyes were shining, Xiao Jun smiled helplessly. As expected, this woman couldn't resist a beautiful dress. When he went over and took a look, he realized why she was so rude as a princess.
Because the whole skirt is actually purple.
The color purple has been the color of nobles since ancient times, and the price has always been high. Although purple plants are everywhere and purple pigments have been available for a long time, it does not mean it is suitable for use as a dye just because it has color, so as long as it can be used Purple, used as a dye, is usually three times the price of gold.
But the pure purple skirt in front of her is right here, and its price is already extremely cheap compared to its worth.
"Why don't you buy it as a gift for your mother? Mother loves beauty..."
"Okay..." Xiao Rong was a little disappointed. Her hand reluctantly scratched off the beautiful skirt: "Boss, we want this skirt."
The boss was sitting behind the counter with a bowl of rice. When he heard the conversation between the two people, he laughed: "Are the two guests from other countries?"
"How did you know?" Xiao Rong asked curiously.
The boss didn't say anything, but pointed at the purple dress with his chopsticks, and then shouted to the back: "Chunxiu, Chunxiu, go get a batch of No. 14 dresses for the customers to try on. "
After a while, a girl of thirteen or fourteen came out carrying a box. She put it down in front of the Yelu brothers and sisters and then opened the box. Unexpectedly, she opened the box and found sets of purple skirts inside.
"Please take a look, sir. They are all made of fine materials and fine workmanship." The girl said generously, "But in my opinion, this sister is suitable for wearing that goose-yellow rouge suit. This The purple ones are suitable for older people.”
"Let me see, let me see." Xiao Rong, even though she was a princess, could not resist the impact of fashion trends, and happily followed the girl to the other side.
Xiao Jun, on the other hand, felt that giving away this box of silk would definitely give him face, so he said very cheerfully: "My mother and aunt love this purple color. I will cover all the goods in the store."
The boss blinked his eyes and said, "Sir, don't you want to make fun of me? I have more than a thousand of these No. 14 items. Do you want them all?"
"Ah?" Xiao Jun was stunned for a moment: "So many?"
"Not too much, not too much. I'm afraid I haven't dyed much after the fashion."
And just as they were shopping around like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, a blinding light flashed by Brother Zhang, and two steel plates were welded together tightly.
The cheers in the entire workshop almost lifted the roof, if not for any other reason than that the first electric welding machine in human history was finally born, and with electric welding, more complex industrial machines will be born!
Brother Zhang's hands were all gray and black. He stood with his hands on his hips and looked at the people around him. He said with a smile: "Starting tomorrow, your wages will be doubled."
(End of chapter)
