The next morning, Guo Song held a ceremony at Danfeng Gate to welcome the envoys from Silla. Danfeng Gate is not a simple city gate. It is actually a group of independent buildings, with inner and outer gates, an urn, and an urn.
There are also a lot of buildings inside.
Many government offices have external functions. Some government offices have independently established a foreign-related government office outside. However, most government offices set up an external window in the Danfengmen Urn City to hand over documents and so on.
Therefore, the outer palace gate of Danfeng Gate is not fortified and ordinary people can enter, and there will be no body searches or inspections. However, the inner palace gate is heavily guarded and one must have a pass card to enter.
The welcoming ceremony held by Guo Song was at the gate of the inner palace, with a straight imperial road behind it and the vast Danfengmen Square on both sides.
The ceremony was simple but solemn. Guo Song accepted the personal letter from Jin Yansheng, the regent of Silla. After the ceremony, Park Eun-taek was invited to Fengxi Pavilion. The two sides held formal talks, with Right Prime Minister Pan Liao representing Guo Song and Park.
Eun-taek holds talks.
It was rare for Guo Song to have some free time today. He took a light carriage to Dongshi. He likes to visit the market, especially the two cities and Xi'anmenwai Street. The hustle and bustle of the market makes him feel very down-to-earth. After all, he comes from a lower class background.
After a long time, he couldn't stand the oppression of the palace, so he wanted to go out for a walk.
However, the courtiers and guards objected to his casual wandering and private visits incognito. Finally, everyone reached a compromise. Guo Song could go out for a stroll, but he could not show his face at will and could only sit in a carriage.
Even so, the ministers were not at ease. Under Pan Liao's arrangement, the craftsman supervisor designed a light carriage, which was very convenient for getting on and off. The body was very narrow, and only one person could sit facing each other inside, and it did not occupy the road. This kind of carriage
Carriages are very suitable for women or the elderly. They were introduced in large quantities on the market and became popular in Chang'an. Soon, such light carriages pulled by a single horse also appeared on the streets of Taiyuan, Chengdu and other counties in Guanzhong.
This kind of carriage is especially popular with women from wealthy families, who are not very convenient to go out. With this kind of carriage specially designed for shopping, women from wealthy families can go out at will, and just need to bring two horseback attendants to protect them.
.
Guo Song was riding this kind of light carriage with a black roof. It can be seen everywhere in the East and West markets. No one would pay attention to it. This kind of thinking is like hiding a grain of sand. The best way is to throw it on the beach.
, Guo Song is not conspicuous at all when riding in this kind of carriage.
The light carriage drove past the cloth shop and passed the Dugu family's cotton shop. A guard went to inquire about it and came back shortly to report: "Your Highness, the owner of Dugu has been in Xinfeng County these days."
Guo Song nodded. Xinfeng County is a cotton and linen textile center that has just emerged in recent years. There are more than 20 factories there with more than 1,000 people, employing tens of thousands of people, most of whom are young women. Especially those cultivated in Anxi can be used.
After the introduction of long-staple cotton for spinning, the use of cotton for spinning and weaving began on a large scale in Chang'an. The Dugu family had a linen spinning factory in Taiyuan and two cotton spinning factories in Xinfeng County.
During this period, a large number of refugees from Luoyang fled to Chang'an, which became a good opportunity for factories to recruit workers and expand their factories. You can understand this if Dugu Changqiu stayed in Xinfeng County.
The carriage did not stop, but turned directly towards the central part of Dongshi City. The central part of Dongshi City is a center for luxury goods, and the jewelry store is located here.
The carriage stopped slowly in front of Jubao Pavilion. Jubao Pavilion is one of the three major jewelry shops in Chang'an. It was originally a shop invested by several royal families. Even Emperor Daizong had a large role in it. Li An, the chief steward of the Royal Merchant, was in charge.
Later, Guo Song played the most important role in eradicating Yu Chaoen, so Emperor Daizong Li Yu rewarded the shop to Guo Song, and it was jointly owned by Guo Song and Zhang Lei.
After Guo Song gradually became jealous of Emperor Li Shi in Hexi, he transferred all the shops in Chang'an to Zhang Lei and the Dugu family, and Jubao Pavilion became the property of Zhang Lei and Li An.
At present, Li An has withdrawn from Jubao Pavilion. Zhang Lei gave up the jewelry industry because he had too many properties. Jubao Pavilion has returned to Guo Song's hands again. After two or three years of silence, Jubao Pavilion returned to the industry half a month ago.
Open.
The current proprietor of Jubao Pavilion is Guo Song's wife Xue Tao. Under the influence of her husband, she has always been obsessed with jewelry and jade, especially Khotanese jade. She invested 50,000 guan herself, and Guo Song funded her with 50,000 guan.
Along with the Jubao Pavilion store, it was given to her. Dugu Youlan, Zhang Minqiu and Liu Caichun also invested 5,000 yuan each, taking a small share.
A few people have been planning for nearly a year, and half a month ago, Jubao Pavilion reopened, mainly selling jade and jewelry.
Jubao Pavilion covers an area of about five acres and has a unique large warehouse made of bluestone, which can provide jewelry preservation services to hundreds of customers. Therefore, Jubao Pavilion has always been a jewelry supply store for the dignitaries of the Chang'an royal family.
Before the Jingyuan mutiny, Guo Song packed all the jewels in Jubao Pavilion and sent them to Zhangye. After Guo Song captured Chang'an, these jewels and jade were transported back to Xingqing Palace and have been stored in the underground warehouse of Xingqing Palace.
Some of them were gradually returned to their original owners, but more than half of the original owners have disappeared. Their original owners are basically the royal relatives of the Li and Tang Dynasty.
The shopkeepers of Jubao Pavilion are basically still the same team. Many of them have changed careers. The original shopkeeper Liu Da is also taking care of his grandson at home. Now Xue Tao sent people to invite them back and gave them double wages. With everyone's support,
With hard work, Jubao Pavilion quickly recovered.
Guo Song got off the carriage and walked up the steps of Jubao Pavilion. A waiter quickly opened the door for him and said, "Welcome to patronize us!"
Although the waiters, stewards, and bosses inside are all old people from the past, they only know Zhang Lei and not Guo Song. Only shopkeeper Liu Da knows Guo Song.
The layout of Jubao Pavilion is different from before. After entering the main gate, there is a resting hall, where you can drink tea and wait. Then there are halls on the left and right. Go in from the right door, which is the jewelry hall, and go in from the left door, which is the jewelry hall.
Yutang.
Generally, male customers go to Meiyu Hall, and female customers go to Jewelry Hall. There are not many female customers in Jewelry Hall, but it does not mean that the business is not good. Many high-ranking officials and families come to visit for tasting and sales.
On the other hand, there were many male guests in Meiyu Hall, as many as twenty or thirty people. Guo Song walked into Meiyu Hall. The light in the lobby was very good, and large amounts of sunlight shone in from the newly installed large glass windows, making the entire lobby look very bright.
There is a circle of display wooden cabinets placed against the wall, with many copper trays placed inside. Pieces of beautiful jade are placed on the Persian velvet cloth of the trays. Many men bend down with their hands behind their hands to admire the beautiful jade on the counter.
Jade and swords have been worn by men since the Han Dynasty. The so-called gentleman wearing jade has been a tradition for thousands of years. Especially in the Sui, Tang and even Song Dynasties, men wore leather belts around their waists, and various decorations were hung on the leather belts.
, among which beautiful jade is essential.
The fascination and pursuit of jade among men in the Tang and Song dynasties far exceeded that of today.
Most of the jade in the Han and Tang Dynasties came from the Kunlun Mountains, so it was also called Kungang Jade. The Silk Road was also the jade road. Silk was exported to the outside world and jade was imported to the inside. A large number of beautiful jade from Khotan entered the Central Plains, so it was also called Khotan Jade.
, it was not until the Qing Dynasty pacified southern Xinjiang more than a hundred years ago that it was renamed Hetian Jade.
Guo Song came to Jubao Pavilion not to buy jade, but to see how the store was doing. It had been open for more than half a month, and this was his first time here.
A waiter stepped forward, bowed, and asked politely: "What kind of jade do you want to buy?"
"Let me take a look first!" Guo Song said with a smile.
"Just ask me if you need anything!" The man retreated.
"How much does this jade with red skin cost?" asked an old man next to him, pointing to a piece of jade on the counter.
The waiter hurriedly stepped forward and said: "This one costs at least one hundred guan!"
"too expensive!"
The old man shook his head repeatedly. He pointed to a piece of white jade on his waist and said: "My white jade only has a few guan of money, and you guys are not as white as me. Why should you sell it for hundreds of guan? Isn't this a scam?"
The old man became angrier as he spoke, waving his arms and saying, "This is a black shop here, it's too dark!"
His voice was loud and attracted the attention of everyone around him. The man didn't know how to answer for a while.
Guo Song couldn't help but stepped forward and said: "Old man, can you let me say a few words?"
The old man glared at Guo Song, "What do you want to say?"
"Old man, your chalcedony is also called quartz. It is the same thing as the sand on the river beach. It can be found everywhere. It's just that your chalcedony is slightly larger. This jade is Khotanese jade, which is only found in Yutian.
It is only found in the Khotan River. It is very valuable and has red skin on it.
Weigh the weight yourself. The two items are about the same size, but the Khotan jade is much heavier than your chalcedony. Looking at the appearance, the Khotan jade is warm and delicate, and its light is restrained, just like a gentleman cultivating virtue within himself. You
Do you think it’s the same thing as your dazzling white chalcedony?”
The old man's face turned red, and he snorted angrily, "You can't convince me. I think you and the profiteers are in the same group, and I'm too lazy to tell you!"
He pushed the boy away and stormed away angrily.
At this time, shopkeeper Liu Da came over after hearing the news. When he saw Guo Song, he was startled. One of Guo Song's followers came forward and whispered a few words to him. Shopkeeper Liu Da nodded.
He said to everyone: "Everyone, everyone knows that Khotan jade is only found in Khotan. You can go down the river to touch jade when the moon is full. The output is rare. Currently, only a few jewelry stores in Chang'an sell it. It has been sold since ancient times.
It is very valuable. Chalcedony is a low-end jade, which is indeed very cheap. Our store has always sold only high-quality jade. You cannot buy jade like chalcedony in our store. Our store will never cheat or damage its own brand!"
These words were actually addressed to Guo Song, but they won a round of applause from everyone.