Chapter 61: Looking for Knives in the Black Market (Part 2)
Today, many children from wealthy families came to the black market to buy weapons. In just a quarter of an hour, they met three groups. As one of the main successor candidates of the Liang family, Liang Wu has the obligation to maintain a good relationship with them, so there is a lot of nonsense. Every time he sees them,
Each person would have to chat for a long time.
Guo Song was so annoyed that he simply wandered around the market alone.
After walking for a while, he found someone following him furtively. When he walked to a mirror shop, Guo Song glanced into the bronze mirror and saw clearly the face of the follower, who was also a Sogdian.
I have seen this person in my shop.
Guo Song sneered. He knew that Li Ande would not give up and would definitely try every possible means to acquire his ironwood sword. He wanted to see what Li Ande would use in the end?
There are more than two dozen stalls on the left, all selling foreign products.
Guo Song was somewhat interested, so he walked over casually.
The shop owners were almost all Sogdians, and they sold a wide variety of products. A high-quality Persian wool carpet was priced at fifty guan. If you negotiated the price, you could get it for 40 guan, but it was a pity that he didn't need it.
At this time, Guo Song stopped at a stall selling gems. Guo Song's biggest hobby in his previous life was collecting various stones, and this hobby continued to the Tang Dynasty.
The stalls are filled with all kinds of low-end gems, including rubies and sapphires from Bukhara and Samarkand, turquoise and lapis lazuli from Persia, topaz and chalcedony from Tochara, and various gems that cannot be named.
Although the quantity is large, the quality is very poor, just like picking up leftovers from the mines and selling them by the pound.
Guo Song had extraordinary eyesight. He found an exceptionally pure and high-grade turquoise among a large number of turquoises. He held it in the palm of his hand and looked at it. It was oval in shape and as big as a date. It was so green that his eyes were intoxicated.
.
"How much does this turquoise cost?"
Guo Song regretted it after asking. The price was clearly written on the wooden sign next to it, which was 100 cents per pill. This question was troublesome.
The stall owner was also a thin, middle-aged Sogdian. He immediately said: "This one is different from the others. I accidentally dropped it. It costs a lot of money."
"Shopkeeper, you have the nerve to ask for a price. If I didn't ask you, I would have taken the hundred cents!"
The stall owner was also a little embarrassed and said: "How about you buy another more expensive gemstone, and I will give you this high-quality turquoise."
"How much expensive gems should I buy?"
The stall owner took out a box and said, "These are three top-grade emeralds from Tianzhu. Each one costs ten guan. If you buy one of them, the turquoise will be your match."
"The shopkeeper is very good at calculations!"
Guo Song said angrily: "As a gift of a turquoise worth a hundred coins, I lost the opportunity to bargain. I don't want this turquoise. Sell me an emerald for five coins."
Guo Song said he didn't want it, but he held the turquoise tightly. He really liked the turquoise and didn't want to give it back to the shopkeeper.
The stall owner saw Guo Song's reluctance and said with a smile: "This turquoise is better than the top grade, it is the best. I have to sell it for at least three pieces of money, but it is true that I was mistaken, and I will not renege on the bill. I still
I’m giving it to you, but the minimum price for emeralds is eight guan, so I’m giving you five guan. Master, it’s not easy for me to come from Samarkand, so you have to let me earn some traveling expenses!”
The other party's counteroffer was not harsh, and more importantly, he didn't have to worry about buying fakes. Guo Song opened the box again and looked at the three emeralds. Go ahead and see three crooked melons and cracked dates, covered with impurities and cracks.
It's right to think about it. He can buy the emerald, known as the king of gems, at a street stall? Even in the Tang Dynasty, it was a treasure played by the rich and powerful.
Wait! Guo Song suddenly discovered something.
Although one of the emeralds was full of impurities and cracks, the impurities and cracks were mainly on the outside, but the core inside was very pure. He quickly estimated in his mind that he would have to cut off at least three-quarters, and the final pure emerald would be about as big as a sparrow.
Egg size.
Even if it is reduced by more than half, it is still a top-grade emerald!
Guo Song's heart was pounding. He deliberately picked for a long time and said, "Don't you have an emerald with better quality? You can also handle this kind of rags!"
The stall owner grinned. If he had good emeralds, he would still set up a stall here?
Guo Song finally picked up the piece of emerald, and reluctantly took out eight taels of silver and handed it to the stall owner, "Forget it, if I hadn't liked this piece of turquoise, I wouldn't have bought it."
"Young master has great eyesight. You will definitely not lose money if you buy it. You will know that you have made a lot of money once you go to Chang'an."
'Why don't you go to Chang'an and sell it if you can make a lot of money?'
Guo Song cursed a few words and put the box containing the two gems into his arms, but he still felt that something was wrong. He seemed to have been tricked. After taking two steps, he suddenly realized something.
That's not right! Just now he clearly said that turquoise costs one thousand dollars, why did it change to three dollars? Doesn't that mean that this emerald can be priced at least two dollars more?
He glared at the stall owner, who pointed to a sign above his head with a smile. Guo Song looked up and saw the sign saying: 'Small business, no returns!'
Forget it, it's hard to buy a piece of turquoise, and he really likes that piece of turquoise, and even picked up a small leak in the emerald. After thinking about this, Guo Song stopped caring and turned around to leave.
After wandering around for a while, he came to the food area, where various types of breads were sold, as well as piles of fruits, mainly melons and pomegranates.
At this moment, a man in front walked quickly with a glass bottle in one hand, covering most of his face with his clothes with the other hand, and his evil eyes darting around.
Sure enough, Guo Song is here, he is angry and funny, is this bastard planning to cheat?
The man suddenly accelerated and rushed towards Guo Song. Guo Song ducked slightly, but he didn't want to let him go, so he hooked his foot below.
"Ah!" The man screamed, his body flew out, and his head hit the wall hard.
Fortunately, it was a mud wall, otherwise he would have been hit head-on to death. Even so, the man's head was still covered in blood and he fainted on the spot.
The bottle in his hand naturally fell to the ground and broke into two pieces.
People around him gathered around him, treating the man while accusing Guo Song of being arrogant and unreasonable.
Guo Song wanted to see what the man said in the end, so he stood aside with his hands folded and patiently helped the man wake up.
At this moment, I heard a young woman behind me scold loudly: "You hurt someone like this, and you just stood aside and watched?"
Without looking back, Guo Song knew that he had met the nosy Duan Sanniang again.
Guo Song smiled lightly, "How does Miss Duan know it was me who hurt him?"
"I saw it with my own eyes, you hooked him with your foot!" Duan Sanniang glared at Guo Song and said.
"The girl has good eyesight. Let me make a bet with you! If he wakes up, he will definitely ask me to pay for his things. As for how injured he is, it doesn't matter."
Duan Sanniang was startled, what does this mean?
The man finally woke up and suddenly screamed, "My glass vase!"
The man lay on the ground and cried loudly, "Fathers and fellow villagers, let me make the decision! Break my beloved vase and beat me to death. Why are the Han people so unreasonable?"
"Are you saying that he is blackmailing you?"
Duan Sanniang said with a cold face: "Blackmail has never happened in this market. I know this Sogdian man. He is Anshan, the nephew of the weapons shop Li Ande. He is an innocent businessman with a good fortune. What does he have to blackmail you?
significance?"
"What's the point?"
Guo Song sneered, stepped forward and said, "Master An is here for my ironwood sword, right? You haven't given up yet?"
An Shan sat on the ground, rolled his eyelids and said: "I don't want your iron wood sword. This vase of mine is worth two hundred guan. You have to compensate me and apologize to me, otherwise I will go to the government to sue you!"
At this time, Liang Wu came over and said: "You are definitely not going to sue the official, so I will help you and just follow Sogdian rules!"
Liang Wu came a step late and happened to see Duan Sanniang scolding Guo Song. He also understood that this was the uncle and nephew of the An family plotting against Guo Song's Iron Wood Sword!
When the people around him heard that they should follow Sogdian rules, they immediately started making noises. Anshan was waiting for the opportunity to say this. Since the other party proposed it on his own initiative, it was the best thing.
He immediately agreed: "Since you don't want to report to the official, then follow the Sogdian rules. Master Liang, let's meet in the open space in front of the weapons store!"
After saying that, he got up with difficulty, covered his forehead and limped away, leaving behind the broken bottles on the ground.
Duan Sanniang frowned. She also felt something was wrong. It was obvious that she just broke a bottle, but how could it turn into a gambling fight between the two parties? Is this Sogdian really plotting against the other party's iron-wood sword?
She leaned over and picked up the bottle. The bottle was a relatively expensive glass bottle. The bottle was very thin and indeed fragile, but the ground was covered with thick sand. It was either intact or shattered. How could it be broken into two pieces?
She looked at the break. The break was neat and it was clearly cut with a sharp blade.
She had realized that she had made a mistake, but it was absolutely impossible for her to put down her shame and apologize. She suddenly remembered that Guo Song had also hooked An Shan with his foot.
'Both of them are not good things! What's wrong with Miss Guanben?'
She finally found a reason that she had no fault for, turned around and left.
Liang Wu glanced at Duan Sanniang who was walking away, and snorted coldly: "Now you finally understand why I hate her so much, right? I am self-righteous all day long, and I fail to accomplish anything but fail more than I can."
Guo Song smiled calmly, "As long as she's here, I'm not afraid that Li Ande will lose and default on the debt. Her nosyness still has some value."
Liang Wu was stunned for a moment, Duan Sanniang still has such benefits?
He thought for a moment and then whispered to Guo Song: "Since Li Ande wants your Iron Wood Sword, we will simply use the plan. When we have a bet later, you use my sword as a bet and use his Iron Wood Sword as a bet."
Win it back and let him steal the chicken but lose a handful of rice."
Guo Song shook his head and said with a smile: "Using your sword may not lead to his iron and iron sword. Don't they want the iron and wood sword? Then use the iron and wood sword as a lottery."
"What if you lose your Iron Wood Sword? It's a gift left by your master."
Guo Song's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he said coldly: "He'd better be able to defeat my Iron Wood Sword, otherwise his greed will only cost him his life."
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[The concept of time in this book: there are twelve hours in a day, four quarters in an hour, three cups of tea in a quarter, two sticks of incense in a cup, five points in one stick of incense, six finger snaps in one minute, and ten fingers in one snap.
A moment, a moment is a thought, when calculated it is an hour and two hours, a quarter of an hour and a half hour, a cup of tea for ten minutes, a stick of incense for five minutes, a minute is one minute, a snap of the finger is ten seconds, and a moment is one second]