There was a crowd of people in front, surrounding a group of Mongolians, and they exclaimed in surprise from time to time.
Darhan and his two sisters walked over, not wanting to watch the excitement. But just then, a Mongolian taiji and his entourage came over, and the Mongolians consciously stepped aside, allowing the three of them to see the onlookers' merchandise.
A large mirror, smaller than the dressing mirrors of later generations, but in the world at that time, it was already a unique and stunning existence.
Of course, this was not the largest in the Ming Dynasty. In the capital, in Jiangnan, and in Japan, there were even larger ones for sale, and the prices were of course ridiculously high.
This large mirror was brought in by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce as a sample display.
Originally, I didn't think that the Mongols could afford it. It was purely for showing off, to open the eyes of the Mongols and let them know the richness of the Ming Dynasty and the dragon's light shining on the Niuduo ruins!
The Mongolian Taiji opened his eyes wide, his face full of surprise and astonishment. He approached cautiously, shook his head slightly from side to side, and even reached out to touch his face before he dared to believe that the person reflected in the mirror was himself.
The guy next to the mirror curled his lips and laughed inwardly at this being another bumpkin.
In fact, mirrors are still high-end commodities. Ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty could not afford them, and probably not many people had seen them.
"This, this is..." The Mongolian Taiji looked left and right, exclaiming in amazement.
"This is a precious glass mirror." The clerk smiled, but also had a bit of pride on his face. "It is priceless in the Ming Dynasty. This time at the horse market, I will display it as the treasure of the store."
As he spoke, the clerk pointed to the shelf and said, "These mirrors are a bit small. They are sold to the public. The price is clearly marked. No cheating."
There are more than a dozen palm-sized round mirrors on the shelves, reflecting the sunlight, making it appear flowing and wavy, giving people a dazzling feeling.
The Mongolian Taiji only glanced at the small mirror, then shifted his gaze to the large mirror, staring at it for a long while. Finally, he pointed at it and asked in a stiff Chinese voice, "How much is this precious mirror?"
"This..." The clerk was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied: "This is a display item for the store, not for sale to the public."
"Since it's on display, why aren't you selling it?" The interpreter stepped forward and chimed in, "Whether it's just for show or just for display, there has to be a price, right? Are you bullying us Mongolians, thinking we're poor and can't afford it?"
The Mongolian Taiji puffed out his chest and looked around. His followers were holding rolls of silk and cotton cloth, looking like wealthy people.
The man scratched his head, not knowing what to do. Add to that the other Mongols' annoyance, and he was at a loss for what to do.
"What's going on?" Several Ming soldiers came over, and the noisy Mongols immediately quieted down.
The noisy noise had alarmed the manager in the back, who came out with a frown on his face. The waiter hurried forward to explain what had happened.
The manager nodded, explained a few words to the Ming soldiers with a smile, sent them away, and then turned to look at the somewhat dejected Mongolian Taiji.
"Although this precious mirror is used to protect the store, it's not impossible to buy it if you really want to." The manager thought for a moment, then relaxed and said, "The price of those small precious mirrors is thirty silver dollars (equivalent to twenty-two taels of silver)."
After a pause, he pointed to the large mirror and said, "You should know that the larger the mirror, the more difficult it is to make. Therefore, the price of this mirror is five hundred silver dollars (equivalent to three hundred and sixty taels of silver)."
Is it expensive?! According to the silver price in the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver was equivalent to about 600 to 700 yuan in later generations. If we round it up to 600 yuan, that would be 360 taels, or at least 210,000 yuan.
The small mirror cost 13,000 yuan, 22 taels of silver, which was about the price of a cow or a pretty good war horse at that time.
The horse market transactions are not really a rip-off, the prices are set relatively reasonably. After all, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce is aiming for long-term transactions.
Even so, their profits were extremely lucrative, especially for luxury items like mirrors. They bought from the royal family, and after deducting shipping costs, they could still make a huge profit of about one-third.
As for Royal, it can only be described as exorbitant profits. The cost and labor cost are not even a fraction of the mirror's price. It is simply unscrupulous.
Three hundred and sixty taels of silver, five hundred silver dollars?! For ordinary people, that was an unimaginable amount of money.
But for the Mongolian Taiji, although it was a considerable amount of money, it was not impossible to take it out.
Just like in the Ming Dynasty society, the poor are ordinary herdsmen, and the rich are Taijis and Beiles. Who doesn’t have a net worth of millions or even several million?
Of course, wealth is manifested in another form, that is, herds of cattle, sheep and horses.
A cow costs almost ten thousand yuan, and a large mirror is worth more than twenty cows; if it is a good horse, it will be even more valuable.
In the early Ming Dynasty, in order to obtain enough horses, the Ming Dynasty forced the people to raise horses for government requisition, but the people were unwilling to do so. They would rather kill the horses and pay compensation than raise horses for government requisition.
Later, due to the shortage of horses, the Ming Dynasty had to switch to purchasing, that is, spending money to buy horses from the public.
With the implementation of this policy, a large number of private horse farms have emerged in Hebei and Shandong, specializing in raising horses for sale to the government.
Therefore, the price of buying a horse generally fluctuated between 10 and 15 taels, and the private carriage transportation industry also flourished.
In the late Ming Dynasty, because the trade route with Mongolia was opened, cheaper horses could be purchased in large quantities from Mongolia, so the purchase of horses from the private sector was stopped, causing private horse farms in Hebei and Shandong to go bankrupt and change their business.
Although it was cheaper to buy horses from Mongolia, the price of horses purchased by the Ming Dynasty officials did not drop. It is easy to imagine where the price difference went.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, with the large-scale closure of horse farms in Hebei and Shandong, and the rebellion of the Later Jin Dynasty, the cost of buying horses from Mongolia increased sharply, reaching a peak of fifty taels of silver per horse.
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