The prince took the knife and looked at the blade. It was indeed a sharp knife.
He took the wood and cut with confidence.
Unexpectedly, even though he was very strong, the knife could not go down. It took a long time for the knife to eat a little bit of the wood.
The prince took out the knife and looked at it. His eyesight was unmistakable. It was indeed a good knife, very sharp! It was more than enough for cutting wood!
He picked up the scrap wood on the side and whittled it hard with the knife again.
This time he easily cut off a large piece, and because he didn't guard against it, he almost cut off his hand because he was too fast.
The old master was so frightened that he patted his hand and told him to put it down.
"Don't dare to try it, you young man, you are so energetic, you almost saw blood just now!"
Ancient people paid special attention to their health. Seeing blood was a very bad thing, so the masters were particularly afraid of it.
The prince smiled and didn't care.
He took the two pieces of wood and shook them in his hands, and soon realized something was wrong.
He pointed at the hard-to-cut wood and looked at Muchuan in surprise.
"This piece of wood is heavier than the others!"
"Even if other wood is heavy, it is not as heavy as this one.
This is not the nanmu that we often see."
After speaking, he looked at the master, who nodded and agreed with what he said.
Muchuan also tried to bump it, and it was indeed very heavy.
He held the wood up to the sun and looked at it. It was mahogany, but it didn't look like Tang Dynasty mahogany, but more like the mahogany from Southeast Asia he had seen in later generations.
“Where did this wood come from?”
Muchuan asked Master Xiang.
"This little old man doesn't know. The wood seller over there knows that I bought this wood from him."
The old chef pointed to a shop diagonally opposite.
The prince stood up, patted the sawdust off his clothes, and walked to Muchuan.
"What's wrong?
Is there something wrong with this wood?”
The prince looked at Muchuan suspiciously.
"No problem, I'm just curious."
Muchuan finished speaking with a smile and looked at the old master.
"Thank you, master. I want to buy one of those root carvings. How much does it cost?"
Muchuan asked, pointing to a root carving he liked.
"This is not expensive, only six taels of silver."
The old master made a six sign, smiling so hard that he could hardly see his eyes.
If you sell one root carving, you won't have to make a living for a year.
The master is naturally happy.
Muchuan smiled and gave him a 10-tael silver note so that he would not have to look for it.
The old master bowed his body and responded excitedly, "Hey, hey," and looked for a bunch of things to install root carvings in the store, but there was nothing suitable.
Muchuan waved his hand casually and said "no", and the prince took the wood carving from the old master's hand.
"Thank you, master!"
The prince smiled, showing two rows of white teeth.
The old master watched them leave with a naive smile.
The two of them walked together towards the shop the master just pointed out.
On the way, the prince looked at the wooden carving in his hand and asked:
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, I just want to see where this wood comes from. If I guessed correctly, this is wood produced in the area near the sea in the southwest of Datang. How can Datang's business go there?"
Muchuan was a little confused.
He felt it was normal to do business with countries close to the Tang Dynasty.
But the source of this wood is too far away. Judging from later world maps, it should be near the equator.
Shipped by sea?
Is foreign shipping so strong?
By land?
The mountains are high and the water is far away. Can it be transported here?
It was difficult for the prince to think of a specific location in the southwest of the Tang Dynasty, not to mention that the southwest was close to the sea. He didn't even know that if Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty went south and south, and kept going south, it would always reach the seaside.
He was confused when he heard it, but it didn't stop him from learning new knowledge.
The shop the master pointed out is just a few steps away.
The waiter had already seen the master pointing to their shop towards Jun Wang and Muchuan, and seeing them walking this way, the waiter was so smart that he already reported it to the shopkeeper.
So when the prince and Muchuan walked to the door, the shopkeeper came out to greet them.
"Two distinguished guests are here, please come inside!"
The prince and Muchuan also bowed their hands to him, and the three of them walked into the store together.
"You two gentlemen, I wonder what you want to buy?"
the shopkeeper asked.
These two young gentlemen were dressed gorgeously and elegantly. They did not look like they belonged to ordinary wealthy families, but rather they looked like young gentlemen from official families.
"Shopkeeper, when I just passed by the root carving shop, I saw the old master using a kind of hardwood to make root carvings. Although the wood is hard, it doesn't look like the hardwood from our Tang Dynasty."
Muchuan asked politely.
"Oh, you are talking about wood from India and Pakistan, right?"
As he said this, the shopkeeper searched for it and took out a piece of wood.
"Master, take a look, is it this kind?"
Muchuan took the wood and bumped it, and then looked at the texture. It was indeed this kind.
"Yes, that's exactly what it is.
I wonder where the shopkeeper got the goods?"
After saying that, Muchuan saw the shopkeeper's expression was different and quickly explained.
"Shopkeeper, don't worry. I am the Minister of Household Affairs. My surname is Mu. I heard you said this is wood shipped from India and Pakistan. I wonder if it is transported by sea or by land?"
Muchuan said and took out his token to prove his identity, while the county prince sat aside and studied the hardwood very persistently.
When the shopkeeper heard that it was Mr. Mu, the Minister of Revenue, he was so frightened that he immediately knelt down.
I guessed that he was the son of an official, but I didn’t expect him to be an official himself! So young! He definitely fits the image of Master Mu that has been circulated in the market!
Muchuan quickly stopped him.
"No need to be polite, Mr. Li and I were just strolling around. I heard you said this is wood from India and Pakistan. I was curious and wanted to know more.
You don’t need to tell me the secret, I just want to know whether it’s sea transportation or land transportation, and how much cargo can be transported at one time?”
"Yes, sir.
If there are any secrets, if the adults want to ask, the kids will tell you."
The shopkeeper had a smile on his face and kept talking nice words, but everyone knew that he would never tell Mr. Mu how much goods he bought and how much he paid for them.
"Sir, I also bought this wood from someone else. That's the place closest to the source of the wood."
"May I give you his address? He should still be in Chang'an City now, and he may leave in a few days."
The shopkeeper said, looking at Muchuan, waiting for him to speak.
"Okay, then I'll bother the shopkeeper."
Muchuan said with a smile and put a silver ingot on the table.
The shopkeeper nodded quickly "Hey," and said, "Why are you so polite, sir?" He turned around and went to the counter to get a pen and ink to write.
Muchuan and the prince looked at each other and smiled.
The shopkeeper quickly finished writing and handed it to Muchuan.
"Sir, please put it away carefully.
If there is any need for a villain in the future, just give me your orders!"
The shopkeeper bowed his waist and smiled more sincerely.
"Easy to say."
Muchuan smiled, and the prince finally threw away the wood in his hand, stood up, and left with Muchuan.
