Chapter 6: Crossing Chang'an and Viewing the Terroir
Li Siye nodded again with confirmation. The population density of Chang'an City cannot be compared with that of modern Xi'an. The lower class of society with a little economic strength all have a courtyard house. It cannot be said whether the courtyard house or the unit building are better, but in Xi'an there are
Anyone who can live alone in a courtyard is damn rich.
"good."
Zhang Lu smiled and rubbed his hands: "It's good. Let's live here first. As for the rent, we can pay it anytime."
These were just polite words. How could Li Siye not hear it? He took the initiative to take out the money from his arms, squatted on the stone under the eaves, laid out the money one by one and counted them. A total of 530 copper coins were counted.
"How about I pay one month's rent first and then pay the rest when I have a future?"
"Okay, okay." Zhang Lu reached out, picked up the copper coins on the ground, and put them into his belt.
After both parties have paid the rent, they still need to go to Fang Zheng and Li Zheng of Xinchangfang to check in. This is also a kind of management of the foreign population in Chang'an City. However, Zhang Lu has already taken care of these things, so there is no need for Li Siye to worry about it.
Now he only has two hundred and seventy yuan left in his hand. The price of rice in Chang'an City at this age should be twenty yuan per bucket of rice. Two hundred yuan is enough for his brother and sister to eat rice for half a year, but they can't just live on white rice.
You should have some pickles. Now that the main house has been tidied up, you can't live in a bare house without even a roll of straw mat. You have to buy blankets, bedding, iron pots, cages, and shovels. How much money will you have left after all these expenses?
money?
The most important thing is that Zhang Xiaojing and the bad guys under his command helped him find a place to live and helped him clean up the yard. He couldn't let people just pat their butts and leave? Isn't this tantamount to being rude? Not to mention that in Tang Dynasty
In the past, even in modern times, do new employees in the unit have to treat everyone to a meal? When colleagues help move, do they have to treat everyone to a meal?
If you go to a restaurant outside to eat, you will definitely have to spend more money. There are one, two, three... a total of nine people present. If you want to treat these nine people to dinner, two hundred and seventy dollars will definitely not be enough.
He thought that maybe he could go to the West Market to buy some cooked mutton and some wine, and come back here to entertain everyone. It shouldn't cost much, so he decided.
Seeing that Li Siye's address had been settled, Zhang Xiaojing called his bad guys to leave and said goodbye to him: "Siye, please take your time to clean up. Let's go first."
Li Siye stepped out of the yard and said quickly: "Wait a moment, bow to all brothers. Siye is particularly grateful to the brothers for their help. You can stay here first while I go to the West Market to buy some property, wine and meat. Please join us, brother."
Have a drink.”
Zhang Xiaojing looked at Li Siye in surprise. After thinking for a moment, he raised his head, looked at the sun above his head and said, "Okay, the sun is setting now, and there are still two hours before the curfew, so I have time to drink it. This way.
, Siye, I’ll go with you, and I’ll also get something for you.”
He waved his hands to the bad guys behind him: "Brothers, if you have something to do, go quickly. The heirs will gather in an hour. If there is nothing, go find something to do."
The bad guys laughed and dispersed. Li Siye looked at the backs of these people and found that they were too far apart from Zhang Xiaojing in terms of momentum. This distance was like the gap between a criminal policeman and an urban management officer.
Li Siye let his sister sit on his shoulder and followed Zhang Xiaojing through Zhuque Street for more than ten square meters, which was equivalent to crossing more than half of Chang'an City. The city's charm also slowed down in front of him like a scroll.
Unfold slowly.
The heat is rising in the Biluo shop in Changxingfang, and customers are queuing up around the bamboo cages. The shop owner wears a pointed beard hat and speaks friendly words that are unclear to Han and Hu.
The skirt was also covered with an apron, which was stained with food stains.
Most of Xinghuafang's high-rise buildings are large mansions and courtyards, and there are even one or two Gothic buildings inside, with staggered levels of balconies, corridors, and pavilions. Dense green trees dot the eaves, and many people have lotus ponds in their yards. Zhang Xiaojing said
The bowls and chopsticks used by the people living here are all made of gold. It is unimaginable to be either rich or expensive. Most of Huaiyuanfang is inhabited by barbarians, and many countries can be distinguished based on their skin color. Persia and food merchants are like migratory birds.
He usually travels between two places, staying in Chang'an in spring and summer, and then heading to the Western Regions with his camel caravan in autumn and winter to return to his hometown.
The most prosperous one is the West Market in Chang'an City. It is the distribution center for goods from the Eastern and Western Silk Roads. It is lined with shops and warehouses and covers a large area. It is uniformly divided according to the type of goods. There are various restaurants and inns all along the street.
Wine flags are like flags fluttering in the wind, extending from the street entrance to the end of the street. The layout of various silk shops is roughly the same. The difference is the long flags and lanterns hung outside the door. The owner of the silk shop tries his best to make them bright in color and posture.
It is diverse and its level of care is no less than that of modern light box advertisements.
Hu people and Han people rub shoulders with each other on the street. Just by looking at their clothes, more than a dozen races can be distinguished. Zhang Xiaojing explained to him as he walked: "The people who wear white scarves on their heads and like to wear white robes are Nanzhao people.
Those who wear gold and silver and silk without sleeves are Indians. Silla people and Japanese people have no distinctive features and it is difficult to distinguish them. Those who like to cover their faces with gauze scarves and have curly hair are big cannibals, wearing yarmulke hats and lapels.
The one wearing the clothes is a Qiuci or Yudian person from the Anxi Protectorate, and the one with blue eyes and blond hair is a Fulu person."
Li Siye looked around, but he didn't feel very curious. Before he traveled through time, he participated in various free fighting competitions, and the opponents he encountered were all foreigners. But what surprised him was that the history books said that Chang'an City was an international city at that time.
In the city, I found out that this was true when I met him today. Among the ten people he met in the West Market, one was a barbarian.
The person carrying the load behind the master should be the legendary Kunlun slave. His skin is brown and black, but not as dark as African blacks. He may be similar to today's Filipino servants. The Fufu people mentioned by Zhang Xiaojing should be the Byzantines at that time. These
The man has yellowish hair and blue eyes. He is wearing a silk round-neck robe commonly worn by people in the Tang Dynasty and a cross sign on his chest.
There should be no way to go back through soul travel. If you lived in the Tang Dynasty, this era was pretty good.
The streets of the West Market are criss-crossed. Although there are banners at the door of the shops, if you want to find a shop selling quilts in this street with many shops, without the guidance of passers-by, you have to look for it all afternoon.
Of course, quilts were not called quilts in the Tang Dynasty, but were called quilts, and also called big quilts. Xu Shen said in "Shuowen Jiezi": If pajamas are small quilts, then quilts are called big quilts. Cotton cultivation was not yet popular in that era.
Rich people use animal hair to fill the quilt, or directly cover it with tiger skin or fox fur. Ordinary people use rushes or catkins to fill the quilt.
Most fabric shops in Chang'an West Market sell quilts. The shops are all wooden structures with upper and lower floors. The large silk and satin shops have three to four floors. The top and second floors are used for living and warehouses, while the bottom floors are storefronts.
For the convenience of customers, all shops are open and the door panels can be moved and disassembled. When the shop closes in the evening, the shop assistants can lift the panels to seal the entrance.
It was such a shop that Zhang Xiaojing took Li Siye into. Most of the shop sold silk, but also some Gebu. The shop owner knew Zhang Xiaojing and called him Jinglang. There was a bit of respect in his expression. Maybe there was an old relationship between the two.
He didn't know this.
"This brother of mine has just arrived in Chang'an and has just settled down. I would like to purchase two quilts and a piece of cloth from you."
The store owner was very discerning and knew what the customers wanted, so he took them directly to the quilt rack and asked: "Do you want the quilt cover, or should you buy it with the quilt core."