Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty Three: Gambling on Stones?
Han Du saw that Wang Siming looked a little tired, and when he saw a layer of fine dew on his official hat, he immediately knew that he must have been waiting at the door for a long time.
He sighed helplessly, "Don't you know my habits? I won't go out until I wake up naturally. You are busy with work, why are you here so early?"
Wang Siming chuckled and said, "It doesn't matter, the Governor's Mansion can still run even without me. And I can just be lazy for a while."
As he spoke, Wang Siming blinked a few times and his expression became strange.
This is the characteristic of the academy. Ever since the big liar King Tan appeared in the academy, the atmosphere of the entire academy has become more flexible and changeable.
Because people who work honestly and conscientiously cannot live in the academy, at least they cannot live well. Because you don’t know how many times you will encounter traps from classmates or even people in the same dormitory every day. If you don’t want to learn
It’s hard to be smart!
"You don't need to follow me. I'll go shopping by myself and buy a few gems!" Han Du said with a little hope in his eyes, smiling and waving his hands.
Wang Siming did not leave, but asked in surprise, "Sir, the Governor's Mansion has the best and most gems, why do you bother to go out to buy them? I will have some sent to the teacher right now."
"I accept your offer, but I am buying gem pictures for fun, so you don't have to worry about it." Han Du once again rejected Wang Siming's proposal.
Wang Siming really had no way to give Han Du such fun, so he could only nod his head, "Okay, then I will send someone to take the teacher for a good walk around Mount Ceylon."
"Yes." Han Du nodded with satisfaction.
I am not familiar with the current Ceylon Mountains, so it would be good to have someone to guide me.
Wang Siming immediately shouted outside, "Here comes someone."
An official from the Governor's Mansion came in and bowed to Handu, "I am Li Yuan, and I pay my respects to the Duke of Zhenguo."
"No courtesy." Han Du smiled and nodded.
Wang Siming pointed at Li Yuandao and said, "Li Yuan has been in the Governor's Mansion for three years and is very familiar with everything in Mount Ceylon. If sir, you can give him instructions directly."
"Okay." Han Du nodded in agreement.
"Then the student will leave first." After Wang Siming explained clearly, he stopped disturbing Han Du.
Although Wang Siming just made the affairs of the Governor's Mansion easy, he obviously said it to reassure Mr.
Now that Mr. has been settled, it's time for him to take care of his affairs.
"Go ahead and don't worry about me." Han Du waved his hand towards Wang Siming.
Li Yuan waited here for another full hour before Han Du and his party were ready to go out.
Han Du smiled and asked, "I heard that there is a place specializing in gem trading in Mount Ceylon. Can you take me to see it?"
"Of course." Li Yuan replied subconsciously, "That place is not far from the Governor's Mansion. Please get on the carriage."
After all, the safest place on the entire Ceylon Island is the Governor's Palace. Even for the sake of safety, gem trading will choose a place as close as possible to the Governor's Palace.
"There is no need for the carriage. Since the distance is not far, let's just walk there. It just so happens that we can also have a good look at the customs and customs of Mount Ceylon." Han Du did not agree with Li Yuan's suggestion.
"Yes, let me lead the way." Li Yuan bowed slightly and said.
After walking out of the Governor's Palace and turning around only one street, Handu came to a lively and pyrotechnic place.
"Here, there are so many people here! They look almost like the capital city." An Qing was filled with wonder.
To say that it is comparable to the capital is of course Anqing's exaggeration. Perhaps it is because she has seen the sparsely populated Khrumos City for too long, and suddenly coming to this bustling place made her feel deeply.
Yao Yue also had a smile on her face, her eyes constantly moving on the street.
"Huh? The food here is almost the same as in the capital!"
Hearing this, Han Du also focused his attention on several stalls on the street, all of which were familiar to Beijing cuisine.
However, neither An Qing nor Yao Yue's eyes were fixed on the stall. The purpose of their coming here was not to eat.
After walking along this street, Li Yuan led Han Du to a high wall.
Seeing Han Du's eyes fall on the high wall, Li Yuan quickly explained, "This was specially built by the Governor's Mansion. After all, gems are precious, and the Governor's Mansion was afraid that someone would take advantage of Cai, so he built this high wall to encircle the place.
"
Han Du nodded lightly, and then looked at the people selling gems here. He found that most of the faces were not from the Ming Dynasty. Instead, they were people buying gems, and most of them were from the Ming Dynasty.
He frowned slightly, "Why are there just some natives selling gems?"
Li Yuan smiled and said, "There are gems everywhere on this island. No one knows if there are gems hidden in a stone under your feet. The natives have lived here for so many years, and they will always get some gems."
.”
"No businessmen came here before, and they couldn't sell the gems they had. Now it gives them an opportunity. In addition, there are a large number of natives mining in the mines of the Governor's Mansion, so the natives still have some gems in their hands.
of."
"You mean, these natives stole the gems from the Governor's Mansion? Doesn't the Governor's Mansion just care?" Han Du asked in surprise.
The Government House of Mount Ceylon is so benevolent? It doesn’t even deal with stolen gems?
Li Yuan quickly shook his head and explained, "No, of course they don't dare to steal the gems from the Governor's Mansion. It's just that after they learn how to identify veins in the mine, they will go to other places to dig gems themselves."
"Moreover, the Governor's Mansion will purchase really good gems in advance. The gems that can be obtained here are actually not the best."
Li Yuan was kindly reminding the prince that instead of wasting time choosing here, it would be better to go directly to the Governor's Mansion to look for it.
However, Han Du doesn't care about the quality of the gems, but enjoys the atmosphere here.
Han Du immediately understood that there was really no way to deal with the natives. As long as the mining of the Governor's Mansion still required natives, it was inevitable that the natives would learn to mine.
And digging can be done everywhere on the island of Mount Ceylon, and the Governor's Palace cannot stop it even if it wants to. After all, the Governor's Palace has not completely occupied the entire island so far.
Instead of prohibiting the natives from digging for gems, it is better to create a trading place to attract the gems from the natives. In this way, we can do our best to avoid the outflow of gems.
Han Du followed Li Yuan in enthusiastically, and immediately felt a commotion of people.
Han Du led An Qing Yaoyue in front, and Li Yuan followed with his hands folded in front of everyone.
Seeing the bright gems placed on the stone piers, An Qing and Yao Yue's eyes suddenly showed a dazzling light.
Every time they saw a gem, the two of them had to get closer and examine it carefully.
But as Li Yuan said, the gems that can come here are not actually of the best quality.
Anqing was born into a royal family, so his vision was naturally very high.
Yao Yue is wealthy and well-informed.
Although the two of them are very enthusiastic about gemstones of various colors, the quality cannot catch their eye.
"What is this?" An Qing looked at the thing on the stone fence curiously, an ordinary stone.
Li Yuan hurriedly leaned over and explained, "Back to Your Highness, these are stones picked up from various mines, and there may be gems in them. But some people simply put stones picked up on the roadside here for people to buy.
"
"Isn't this a lie? You don't care?" This was the first time An Qing had heard of such a thing, and he couldn't help but glance at Li Yuan sideways.
Li Yuan looked embarrassed and explained
Shi Dao said, "It's just possible, and we have no way to prove that they picked up the stones from the roadside. However, this kind of stone is much cheaper than gems. As long as one can find a gem, they will make a lot of money. Therefore, if you buy it
There are still a lot of people.”
“The buyers I met didn’t have any objections, so we just let it go.”
Han Du's eyes lit up and he subconsciously said, "This is gambling on stones!"
"Betting on stones?" Li Yuan's eyes lit up and he said in surprise, "My father-in-law's words are really vivid. The bet is on stones!"
"It's also gambling on gems." Han Du was very excited.
I have always heard that gambling on stones is very exciting, but Han Du has never experienced it personally, and he did not expect that he would have this opportunity here.
"I'll do it." Han Du immediately stepped forward, pointed to a stone on the stone fence, and asked, "How can I sell this?"
This stone is only the size of an egg, not as big as an egg, so it is considered small among them.
Li Yuan immediately stepped forward to help negotiate with the natives. After a while, he said to Han Du, "He wanted two guans of treasure notes, but I reduced the price to 1 guan."
"It's always the same, right?" Han Du took out a treasure note and handed it to the native.
The native reluctantly handed the stone to Han Du. Obviously he was not satisfied with the price. Maybe it was just because of Li Yuan's identity that he had to sell it.
Han Du weighed the stone in his hand and asked Li Yuan, "What should I do with this? Knock it open yourself?"
Li Yuan shook his head with a smile and stretched out his hand to indicate, "There are craftsmen who specialize in polishing over there. You can ask them for help."
Han Du threw the stone up and caught it again, and said enthusiastically, "Let's go and see if we can find a big leak!"
Arriving in front of the craftsman, Han Du handed over the stone and said, "Here, open it for me and take a look."
The craftsman quickly looked at Li Yuan, and the two quickly agreed on the price.
The craftsman took out a small iron drill and a small hammer, fixed the stone on the stone grate, pointed the iron drill at the stone, and started to jingle.
After every few knocks, the craftsman would stop to blow away the sand and dust in the hole and look carefully. After the hole was deep enough, he would change places and continue knocking.
But until the stone was covered with dense holes, there was no sign of any gemstones.
After communicating with the craftsman, Li Yuan was very embarrassed and said to Han Du, "Master, probably, maybe, maybe there are no gems in this stone."
Han Du's face suddenly darkened. Does this mean that all his precious money has been wasted?
Not only that, but the craftsmen’s wages were also lost.