Chapter 525 Brown Sugar Tea (Please vote and subscribe)
The County Governor's Mansion in Liuyang County is not a multi-story building, but it is also quite grand. It has separate front and back yards, a main hall, a back yard, and wing rooms. The courtyard is paved with blue bricks, and there is a lotus pond in the middle. They were all transplanted from the Ling tribe. One is for beauty, and the other is for daily water storage to prevent fires in the County Governor's Mansion.
Niu Wei, along with five followers, walked all the way to the government office area under the leadership of a minor official.
This government office area has a single earthen city, which covers an area larger than Hanyang City. It also learned from the experience of previous urban planning issues, but there are not many buildings within the city wall for the time being. The only completed construction is the County Governor's Mansion, and the others are still under construction.
Following the wide dirt road to the center of the city, you can see the rather grand County Governor's Mansion at a glance, with blue bricks and green tiles, brown painted pillars, vermilion painted gates, and a high hanging plaque with three large characters of Liuyang Mansion in gold paint. It
's just that there is no drum or stone lion at the door. These time-consuming and labor-intensive things don't have the energy to make them for the time being.
The four guards at the door were wearing armor and holding spears. They looked straight ahead, making people dare not look at them.
Niu Wei had such a reaction. Although he dared not look at their faces, he still took a close look at their clothes and weapons.
But the clerk leading the way would not wait for them. He greeted them and continued to move forward. The leader was still waiting inside.
Niu Wei had to look around while walking in. He had no choice but to walk in. He was too curious about the Han tribe. Look at the big houses here. The bricks are square, the walls are straight, the green glazed tiles on the top are dazzling, the red lacquered beams are complex and beautiful, and the doors and windows filled with lattices are covered with translucent oil paper.
The whole building is full of artificial and ingenious beauty, which reflects the high level of construction of the Han tribe and the diversity of its manufacturing technology.
Looking at the valley where the leader of their Xin tribe lived, and the bamboo building, Niu Wei instantly became more timid. There was no comparison, no comparison, they were not at the same level at all, and this was just the office of a county governor. It was said that there were several counties in the Han tribe.
Following the clerk around the lotus pond, the main hall appeared in front of him. The gate was not closed. Niu Wei walked to the door and saw Luo Chong sitting cross-legged in the main seat with a brush writing and drawing.
"Report to the leader, the Shang elder Niu Wei of the Xin tribe has arrived." The clerk stood at the door and shouted loudly.
"Bring them in." Luo Chong replied without raising his head.
The clerk hurriedly asked Niu Wei and others to take off their shoes outside the door, and then entered the main hall barefoot.
The room was paved with wooden floors. Although it had not been waxed, it had been painted. He was sitting on a high platform facing the door in the room. There was a low-legged desk on it. Luo Chong was sitting cross-legged at the back. The others were different. There were several low tables on each side of the hall, and Da Shu was kneeling next to Luo Chong.
The reason for this arrangement is mainly to consider the issue of status and etiquette. If all the tables and chairs are placed, Luo Chong sits on them, and it is not appropriate for others to sit on the same level with him, but if everyone stands, it will be inconvenient to discuss something. First, it will be tiring to stand for a long time, and second, it will be easier to take notes if there is a table. So everyone just kneels and sits, but Luo Chong is used to sitting cross-legged.
Niu Wei entered the hall, walked to the middle and knelt on one knee, with his right hand on his chest to show respect.
"Hello, Chief Han, I am Niu Wei, the merchant elder in charge of foreign trade in the Xin tribe. I am here to give some gifts to the Han tribe by the order of our chief, and also to discuss the mutual trade between Han and Xin."
Niu Wei respectfully stated his purpose in the grassland language.
Luo Chong naturally had a special translator to relay his message to him in real time, so communication was of course no problem.
"Well, you are the Shang elder, so do you have other elders in your Xin tribe?"
"Uh, yes, the elders of our Xin tribe are in charge of their own affairs." Niu Wei was stunned, but still answered honestly.
"I have seen the gifts from your Xin tribe, they are all cattle and sheep, not too many, not too few, haha, tell me, what kind of deal do you want to make with our Han tribe." Luo Chong took out a new piece of paper and prepared to record it later.
"Uh"
Niu Wei choked again after hearing the translation. What do you mean by not too many, not too few, but the Han tribe can trade directly with the grassland people, and they really don't care about these cattle and sheep, and their Xin tribe can't really show anything that the Han tribe can see except these, but, oh, by the way, they have something else.
"Han leader, those cattle and sheep are just some small gifts. We have another gift that needs to be presented to the Han leader in person, but we haven't brought it now. If it's not urgent, I can ask my men to go to the residence to get it."
Luo Chong was stunned when he heard it. Does this Xin tribe have any other specialties? Could it be some crop seeds again? Thinking of this, he narrowed his eyes and said,
"Well, it's settled, go get it, you can also sit next to it."
"Yes, thank you, Han leader."
Niu Wei whispered a few words to the person behind him, and when the person left the hall, he knelt down at the lower part of the tree.
"Come here, give Elder Niu some sugar and tea."
Luo Chong spoke again, and a black-clothed clerk came out from the screen wall behind him, holding a tray with a tea bowl and a sugar plate on it.
These were the latest products that Luo Chong was preparing to export, and letting Niu Wei taste them was also meant to promote the products. He was going to do business, so that was good. The Han tribe could make some money with this.
The clerk arranged them for Niu Wei and gave him some instructions, "This tea is for drinking, and this sugar can be eaten, or you can put two in the tea bowl, please help yourself."
Niu Wei was immediately curious. Is this what the leader of the Han tribe used to entertain people?
Lifting the lid of the tea bowl, the high mountain black tea inside was emitting curling white smoke, the tea soup was golden red and translucent, and the tea leaves below were rising and falling, which was quite interesting and appetizing. He picked up the tea bowl and took
a sip. The taste was a bit strange, but not bad, just a bit hot, which made him unsatisfied. Niu Wei had to put down the tea bowl. He had seen this kind of painted ceramic tea bowl before. He once bought a set from the grassland people and brought it back to the Xin tribe.
The tea was too hot to drink, so Niu Wei turned his attention to the sugar plate. It was a wooden plate with a glossy color and a faint fragrance. It was coated with peanut oil.
The plate was very shallow, and it contained dozens of peanut-sized rectangular red translucent hard candies. They were all produced by pouring the sugar water into the mold. They were the first batch of trial products. They were not yet mass-produced, so Niu Wei could try them out.
He had never eaten this thing, and even heard of its name for the first time, but a leader of the Han tribe would not poison him in front of him, so he took a piece and tasted it without hesitation.
The moment he took it in his mouth, a strong plant sweetness exploded in his mouth, hitting his taste buds.
What is this? Is this sugar? It's sweeter than honey, no, it's not the same taste at all. Honey is a sticky liquid, but this sugar is very dry, but it is just as sweet and strong.
The shape of this thing is all square and the same size. It must be artificially made. Thinking of this, Niu Wei was even more surprised at the manufacturing technology of the Han tribe. This thing must be more precious than salt!
Thinking of what the tea clerk said just now, Niu Wei took another piece of brown sugar and put it in the tea bowl. At this time, he had sugar in his mouth and added sugar to the tea. It tasted different and seemed to be better. Brown sugar and black tea are a perfect match.
"Thank you for the reward, Chief Han. I wonder if we can buy some sugar and tea in this transaction. Our chief will definitely like these things."
"Of course, there will be some in the return gift from our Han tribe, but not much. We just made this sugar not long ago, and the tea is also. This is not an ordinary leaf. It must be the tender leaves of the tea tree, and it must be processed before it can be made into the black tea you are drinking now.
But these are not important. Let's talk about other transactions and rules first.
It is not impossible to trade with our Han tribe, but our Han tribe has a condition that the calculation units of our Han tribe must be used in the transaction, and the currency of our Han tribe must also be used.
As for how to use these units and coins, if you agree, I can send people to teach you the technology, and I can also sell you various scales, well, that is, our scales." Luo Chong said, tapping the table with his fingers.
Niu Wei was overjoyed when he heard this. During the half month of living in the Han tribe, although their range of action was restricted, they still saw a lot of people and things in the Han tribe. After all, the population here in Liuyang County is really large.
He also saw with his own eyes that in the morning market, the vendors used scales to weigh the goods. It was a very convenient and accurate way of calculation. No matter whether it was the buyer or the seller, the scattered weights were traded with coins of various denominations, and no one would suffer a loss.
Now that he had the opportunity to obtain such advanced technology, Niu Wei was naturally very happy, but he was a little strange. What did the leader of the Han tribe mean? Was he really so generous?
Of course, Luo Chong could not be generous, or he would not be generous when it came to doing business with other tribes. But if the standards of weights and measures could be unified all over the world, why didn't Luo Chong do it?
Besides, the other party was not unwilling to pay for his scales, so why not sell it? This was obviously a good thing with both vested interests and political interests. If the weights and measures could really be promoted in the Xin tribe, there would be less resistance when the Han tribe took over in the future.
Another thing is the promotion of currency. This is not easy to do, mainly because the production volume cannot keep up, but we have to do it slowly. Think about it, if the entire Zhudao uses the "Luo Datou" of the Han tribe to trade, looking at the portraits on it and learning the Chinese characters on it, then what is the difference between them and the people of the Han tribe? Luo Chong will assimilate them in various ways sooner or later.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
