The territory of the Tang Dynasty, Jingzhao Mansion, and the capital Chang'an.
In the splendid palace, a woman wearing a phoenix crown and harem, holding an exquisite lunch box in her slender jade hands, was walking inside this majestic palace.
However, when she saw the empty room, she couldn't help but her face darkened, and she got angry rarely. With her inner strength surging, she couldn't help but smash a blue and white vase beside her.
This vase was passed down from the Han Dynasty. Although the vase itself is not a masterpiece by a famous artist, it is carved from precious jade and is sold outside, worth at least three thousand gold.
"Where are His Majesty's people?"
"Went out for breakfast."
"Isn't he used to eating the royal food from the palace?"
"Your Majesty...said there is no smoke and fire in the world."
"Fireworks? I think he just can't stay idle. If he dares to run around again, his legs will be broken! I want to see if he can still run out every now and then."
As soon as these words came out.
The surrounding palace maids and female officials of the Tang Dynasty immediately lowered their heads, as if they were afraid of hearing something they shouldn't hear, but the words had already reached their ears, and they were just deceiving themselves if they said they couldn't hear them.
However, the woman wearing a phoenix crown and harem didn't care about the palace ladies and the female officials of the Tang Dynasty. She just said what she said. As the emperor and empress of the Tang Dynasty, she had the qualification to say it.
.....
At the same time.
Chang'an City, east of the city, a wonton stall.
"Ah, cut! Ah, cut! Ah, cut!" Several sneezes sounded in succession.
Hear this sound.
The owner of the wonton stall quickly took out a glass of water from behind and handed it to a young man in front of his stall.
"I'm sorry, guest, maybe I sprinkled too much pepper. Pepper is the spice ground for pepper, and pepper is a new thing recently spread from the Western Regions. It's really good to use with meals. The taste has been improved to a higher level.
But it’s easy to choke people.”
The stall owner is a middle-aged man who looks to be in his forties. He is very friendly and skillfully explains the reasons why pepper is choking to prevent customers from not paying for this reason.
He has encountered a lot of bad things these days, but since adding spices like pepper, his business has improved a lot, so he gritted his teeth and persevered.
"It's okay, your pepper is fine, maybe someone is talking about me... I'm... If you don't believe it, I'll try it for you... Ah... Ah, cut...
.It’s really a bit choking!”
The young man tried it and was slapped in the face.
"Guest, please be careful, pepper really stings your nose." The stall owner looked helpless. He held the pepper jar in his hand and smelled it with his nose. He really admired the talent.
"It's okay, it's okay, it's my own problem."
The young man looked a little embarrassed and took the water glass from the stall owner's hand. Just when he opened his mouth to drink, an unknown cold light flashed lightly on his fingertips.
After noticing that there was nothing unusual about the water glass, the young man took a sip of water and waved his hand gently to show that he did not mean to blame him.
"Guest, you said, it's really good that the Tang Dynasty has been restored. The Western Regions have restored contact with our Tang Dynasty, and many new things have been introduced to us." The stall owner sighed.
When the great Eastern country, that is, the Celestial Kingdom, was restored, perhaps in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty itself, the recently restored Tang Dynasty was not as good as the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
But in the eyes of those merchants from the Western Regions and other small countries, the word Datang was a golden sign, and they once again resumed trade with various states in the Tang Dynasty.
In the past, when wars and chaos were raging, these businessmen who lived for money naturally did not dare to come to the Tang Dynasty to seek death, because they might be robbed by some passing military governors and vassal kings at any time.
But now that the Tang Dynasty has been restored, the world is stable, and all nations have surrendered, they will not let go of this good opportunity to make money, and they rush forward one after another like cats that have smelled the fishy smell.
They continue to sell good things here that are not available in the Tang Dynasty, and earn high profits from them.
However, Datang officials are not at a loss. No matter who does business on Datang's territory, they will eventually have to pay taxes to Datang.
And unlike some dynasties in later generations, some wealthy families could not collect some taxes at all.
Today's Datang, the current Emperor of Datang is a ruthless man.
Even if the princes and nobles do not pay taxes, he will not give them face.
Of course.
In the eyes of these princes and nobles, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was forced to do so, and it must have been forced by bad commanders.
......
"New stuff? How fresh is it?" the young man asked curiously.
"Guest, you also know that I specialize in cooking. When businessmen from the Western Regions come to do business with us, I pay more attention to spices."
The stall owner looked left and right and found that there were no customers for the time being. He wiped his hands, moved a stool from the side, sat down and chatted with the young man.
"That is to say, in addition to pepper, do you have other special spices here?" The young man touched his chin and thought.
"Indeed, it does, but the taste is quite special, which is difficult for ordinary people to accept. After eating it, it feels like a ball of fire has been swallowed in the mouth, and the body cannot help but sweat." The stall owner explained.
"What's its name?" the young man asked curiously.
"Those merchants in the Western Regions said that this is chili pepper, and there are many varieties. But this time, they only brought the spiciest variety, which can be eaten with pepper." The stall owner said tirelessly.
"Boss, stop talking and give me some to try!" the young man said.
"Guest, spices like chili are very expensive, and I only have a little bit, so I really can't give it away for free..." The stall owner looked pretentious.
"Don't talk nonsense. It's up to you how much you want." The young man waved his hand.
"Three hundred cents a piece, can the customer accept it?" The stall owner looked happy.
I spent most of the day introducing it, isn’t that just for this?
Make money without complaining!
Just when the stall owner stood up and was about to take out a small bag of chili peppers for the young man to try, two women dressed in exotic styles came over.
"Boss, ten bowls of chaos." The woman in the lead looks younger.
"I want twenty bowls." The second woman is slightly older.
"Ten bowls for each? Twenty bowls for each? I'm not short of money here. Can you two finish eating?" the stall owner asked doubtfully.
Looking at the two women in front of him who were dressed as if they were from Raojiang, the stall owner was not surprised. Not to mention Raojiang, businessmen from the Western Regions often came to him to eat wontons.
This is Chang'an, the capital city, under the emperor's feet. If it weren't for his nephew, who worked in various official positions in Chang'an City, he really wouldn't have the ability to sell wontons on the streets of Chang'an City.
You must know that in addition to locals, there are also many people from other countries coming and going in Chang'an, the current capital, thus revitalizing this capital city that once suffered from Huang Chao's rebellion.
Not to mention that the capital, Chang'an, has suffered tragic wars and rebellions, and is now no longer suitable as a capital.
As long as the world is stable, open to the outside world, and has a large amount of money flowing, even a barren desert land can forcibly build a prosperous city.
"Boss, why are you talking so much nonsense? I can't live without your money!"
The leading woman took out a broken piece of silver and smashed it on the table.
When this piece of silver was smashed down, it not only knocked down the stall owner, but also made the young man sitting in the corner stagnate, and he quickly covered his face with the folding fan hanging from his waist.
Perhaps it was because he often sneaked out. After realizing that few people recognized his appearance, he became too lazy to spend half an hour dressing himself up.
"Okay, two distinguished guests, wait a moment, I will prepare it for you right away."
The stall owner picked up the piece of broken silver, put it in his mouth and bit it with familiarity. After knowing that it was true and false, he immediately forgot about the young man.
Three hundred articles?
If it were in other state capitals, it wouldn't be considered a small amount of money, enough to buy a big meal in an ordinary restaurant.
But this is the capital, and at the feet of the emperor, a mere three hundred coins is really not that much money.
And this piece of broken silver weighs at least two taels. Two ounces of broken silver is worth two taels of copper coins.
Two copper coins....
Not to mention buying 30 bowls of wontons, it is more than enough to buy this wonton stand. As expected, it is better to kill foreign customers and not regard money as money at all.
Pepper, chili, are these spices expensive?
But it was all given to him by merchants from the Western Regions.
There is no business without treachery, and there is no business without treachery.
Even if he was just a stall vendor selling wontons, he showed this side vividly at this time.
[Datang Official Coin Exchange Mechanism]
One tael of gold is equal to ten taels of silver.
One tael of silver is equal to one copper coin.
A copper coin is always equal to one thousand copper coins.
.....
The other side.
The young man was so clever that he thought he had covered his face so that the two women opposite him, who seemed to be from Raojiang, would not pay attention to him.
Little did he know that he was simply covering his ears. As soon as they came, he covered his face and almost told them in a high-sounding way how shameful he was.
As expected.
"Mom, let me tell you... Hey, the one covering his face with a fan, yes, he is talking about you. Why are you hiding? Are you ugly and shady?"<
/p>
The leader, the woman from Raojiang, was originally hungry and simply came to eat. She had no intention of paying attention to the young man.
As a result, as soon as he and others sat down, he quickly covered his face with a folding fan as if he had seen some monster.
"Yes, I have been ugly since I was a child. I am known as Ah Chou. I am afraid that I will stain the eyes of the two girls." The young man replied with a raised voice.
"Really? I don't believe it!"
The leading woman from Raojiang frowned. She felt that the young man in front of her was deliberately avoiding her, as if he didn't want to meet her.
"Ameng, why are you arguing with a passerby?" the second older woman from Raojiang asked.
She didn’t understand why her daughter cared so much about a passerby. If he said he was ugly, then he was ugly. Could it be that he could still be her daughter’s true love?
"Mom, please don't bother me. This man is too pretentious and deliberately pretends that he doesn't want to see me. I must know his true appearance behind the folding fan." The leader of the Raojiang woman said angrily. p>
She didn't know what she was angry about, but she felt a sense of indescribable grievance.
"Little demon... I'm warning you! This is the capital, don't be violent!"
The young man stood up and kept walking backwards. He was really afraid of this little witch. As for whether it was hot or not, he had to wait until he returned to the palace.
"Do you know me?" the leader from Raojiang asked suspiciously.
"I don't know! We have never met, so how can we know each other?" the young man said firmly.
"You lied!"
The leading woman from Raojiang jumped directly to the young man, trying to force her to see his true appearance behind the folding fan.
At this critical moment.
The young man's brain finally came back, and he took the initiative to remove the folding fan in front of his face.
The little demon girl doesn’t know herself now, and it’s even less likely she’s seen herself, so why bother covering it up?
"Little brother, you look so good!" the leading woman from Raojiang exclaimed.
"Little baby, you are indeed very good-looking." The second Raojiang woman praised.
[Weighing weight---This is a local dialect of Raojiang, which generally means that a man stands handsome.]
"Okay, your curiosity has been satisfied, can you sit back now?" The young man spread his hands and said helplessly.
"No, I feel like you are just trying to drive me away, but I won't leave."
The leading woman from Raojiang grabbed the young man's arm and pushed the young man back to his original position in a brutal manner.
"Little baby, don't leave in a hurry. Our mother and daughter are from Raojiang. We arrived in the capital Chang'an for the first time today. You can be our guide." The second Raojiang woman persuaded.
Talking and talking.
She also took the initiative to sit at the table of young men. She wanted to see what was unique about the man that her daughter cared about so much.
"You...you two, please let me go. I don't have time to be your guide."
"Little brother, don't worry, your work as a guide will not be in vain. I will give you money, lots and lots of money."
"I don't want money!"
"You don't want money? Then you want me? No, no, not now. I have to see that person's appearance with my own eyes. If I really can't accept it, then I can consider whether to accept your pursuit."
"Who are you looking at?"
"It has nothing to do with you!"
.......
Time flies, a few minutes later.
"Two distinguished guests, here come the wontons...Why are you sitting with this guy?" The stall owner looked a little confused.
He had been working hard on making wontons just now, making a total of thirty wontons. He was so busy that he really didn't pay much attention to what was happening here.
Why haven't you seen me for a few minutes?
This young man successfully hooked up with such a wealthy woman from Raojiang?
Is this the shortcut to reaching the top of life?
I heard about Widow Wang on the next street...
Thought of this.
The stall owner touched his greasy face, and the middle-aged man smiled faintly.
Unfortunately, fantasy is short-lived after all, an impatient voice sounded.
"Hey, hey, hey! Boss, where are my chili peppers?" The young man patted the table.
"Guest, please wait a moment, I'll get it right away!"
After the stall owner woke up, he quickly ran to the back of the wonton stall, took out a wooden jar, and carefully took out a few red chili peppers as thick as his thumb.
"Brother, this red thing has a pungent smell. Is it really edible?" the leader from Raojiang asked curiously.
"I've checked, and it shouldn't be poisonous." The second Raojiang woman said.
"You eat your own, don't keep looking at my chili."
After saying that, the young man moved all the red peppers on the plate, including the plate itself, to his side.
The next second.
Under the gaze of the two Raojiang mothers and daughters opposite him, he picked up a bright red chili and put it into his mouth.
I chewed it and felt nothing.
But then a hot and spicy smell instantly made the young man's face flush, and he felt like his whole body was burning up.
"Hoo ho ho...Boss, water, give me water quickly!"
The young man kept exhaling, and he felt like his mouth was on fire.
"Oh, guest, didn't I tell you earlier? This is a spice similar to pepper and is used to accompany food. Why do you just eat it with your mouth?"
The stall owner slapped his forehead and quickly brought a bowl of water with a look of helplessness on his face.
"Another idiot eats chili pepper directly. That thing is used to accompany food." Pedestrians passing by couldn't help but complain.
Served with food?
Two women from Raojiang curiously picked up a red chili pepper.
After noticing the miserable appearance of the young man, they cautiously used their internal strength to crush the red chili pepper, and only sprinkled a little chili powder into their wonton bowls.
Ten seconds later.
"Boss... give us water quickly!"
Time passed for a while.
Two women from Raojiang finished thirty bowls of wontons, leaving the young man stunned.
He didn't expect that not only did she have a big appetite, but her mother also had a big appetite. She was truly a biological mother and daughter.
"I'm full."
"As expected of my mother, she can eat twenty bowls by herself."