Xishoujiang City is a large military city. The city is twenty miles wide in circumference and two feet high. The city walls are thick and strong. There are about 20,000 residents in the city. Most of them are businessmen of various ethnic groups or are engaged in related service industries. Many people are from
Come over to Fengzhou.
Although the Xueyantuo cavalry often invaded and harassed Lingzhou and Fengzhou, because the Sogdians had a greater influence on Geluolu, under the pressure of the Sogdians, the Xueyantuo people also adopted a tacit attitude towards the existence of Xishoujiang City.
Don't bother me.
Xishoujiang City was under the jurisdiction of Shuofang Jiedu Prefecture. Shuofang Jiedu Prefecture set up tribal pacification envoys here. In addition, the imperial court set up a mutual market supervisor here to be in charge of trade taxation and ensure the orderly prosperity of trade.
As everyone entered the city from the south gate, a noisy and lively atmosphere hit them. Shops on both sides were densely packed, with a dazzling array of goods. Shouting and shouting could be heard one after another. Teams of camels loaded with goods swaggered through the streets.
You can see faces of various nationalities, all of them full of enthusiasm.
Guo Song was dazzled by what he saw. He turned around and smiled at Li An: "Uncle An, your goods can be sold here! No need to trek thousands of miles to the depths of the grassland."
Li An shook his head and said with a smile: "It's just ordinary goods here. You can't buy really good things, such as sheepskins. They only sell sheepskins that are one or two years old. If you want to buy sheepskins that are more than ten years old, you can't buy them here. You have to go
The Yazhang of a large tribe is located, and you must bring out goods that cannot be bought here before they are willing to exchange. There are also old medicinal materials that have grown for hundreds of years, and you can only buy them at the Yazhang."
"What goods did Uncle An bring this time?"
"Mr. Guo, I'm sorry, this kind of information cannot be leaked. I can only tell you one thing. There is Shu brocade in the cargo."
Guo Song nodded. He could understand that business secrets could not be leaked easily.
At this time, there was a commotion behind him. Guo Song turned around and saw a large group of people surrounding one of their carts, making bursts of exclamations. Guo Song suddenly remembered that the cart contained the body of the Wolf King.
Guo Song rode his horse back, and a waiter pointed at Guo Song and said: "It belongs to this young master, just ask him!"
More than a dozen Tang Dynasty businessmen immediately surrounded Guo Song, shouting: "Master, can this white wolf be sold? I am willing to pay five hundred dollars to buy it!"
"I'll pay you six hundred dollars!"
"I'll pay you a thousand dollars!"
Seeing their eyes full of enthusiasm, Guo Song knew that this wolf king might be extraordinary. He clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Everyone, I want to take the wolf skin back to Chang'an, please forgive me for not selling it!"
At this time, Li An came over and said to the businessmen: "Let's all disperse! This is just an ordinary white wolf, just a little bigger. The prairie people are not that easy to fool."
Li An is also a businessman, and he understands the psychology of businessmen. Of course, these businessmen will not think that this is the White Wolf King, but just an ordinary white wolf. After they buy it back, they can pretend to be the White Wolf King to fool the grassland nobles, and then sell it at a high price.
.
"If it were the White Wolf King, would we still be able to get out of Wolf Mountain alive?"
It made sense for the merchants to think about it. They circled around the wolf corpse again, guessing that it was a dyed giant wolf. This caravan was also preparing to transport it to fool the grassland tribes. Since they confirmed that it was a fake, everyone did not
Not interested, they went their separate ways.
"Uncle An, is this wolf king very valuable?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
Li An whispered: "Actually, this is my first time walking this road. I just heard the guide say that this wolf may be the legendary White Wolf King, but I don't know what kind of precious method it is. Just now
I'm just fooling them, in your words, making them into paste."
Guo Song nodded and said, "Uncle An, are you going to find an inn?"
Li An pointed forward, "The guide said that there is a Xinping Inn ahead. We will stay there. You can come over later!"
At this time, the carriage curtain opened, and the young man in the carriage smiled at Guo Song and said, "Master Guo, sell this White Wolf King to me! I'll pay you five thousand dollars."
Guo Song looked at him and said with a smile: "I haven't asked the prince for his surname yet!"
The young man smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry. My name is Li Jinyang, from Chang'an. I will bear in mind Mr. Guo's life-saving grace last night."
Li An explained from the side: "Master Li is one of the owners of our caravan. He fell ill on the road. The doctors in Jiuyuan County said we should not see the wind. We stayed in Xishoujiangcheng for two or three days for the purpose of recuperation and treatment."
.”
"I see, if Mr. Li likes it, I will give you this White Wolf King. You just need to find a place to make it yourself."
Li Jinyang was stunned, and immediately smiled and said: "Let's do it! I will accept this White Wolf King first, and later I will also give Mr. Guo a gift. It is my honor to know such a strong warrior as Mr. Guo.
"
Guo Song smiled lightly, "Both each other!"
Li Jinyang clasped his fists in salute to Guo Song and closed the car curtain. This was not rude, but he was ill and couldn't see the wind, which Guo Song understood.
At this time, Li An ordered people to call Wei Ping and Zhang Quanyong, pointed at the wolf corpse and said: "You two go to the inn and skin the wolf. Be careful, it is what the owner wants, and then give it to Old Wu, he will
If you need any materials for making salt, let him buy them in the surrender city."
The two agreed and carried the wolf corpse to the last carriage.
Guo Song saw that they could clean up by themselves, so he said goodbye to Li An and went to wander around the city.
There was a dazzling array of various products in the city, mostly things he had never seen before. He originally planned to buy some expensive souvenirs, but Li An told him that the products sold here were all high-end goods, so he was no longer interested.
At this time, he saw a fur shop next to him and walked in. Various animal skins were hung on the walls of the shop, and there were even antelope heads with long sharp horns.
But the most numerous items were sheepskins and cowhide, which were piled high on several wooden couches in the middle of the store. These were the bulk goods purchased by merchants in the Tang Dynasty.
The shop owner is a Tiele person, and Tiele people are the collective name for the grassland ethnic groups other than Turks, such as Uihe, Sijie, Xue Yantuo, Qixin, Pugu, Beyegu, Xiugasi, etc.
He warmly greeted me and asked in fluent Chinese: "What goods do you want to buy, sir?"
"Does the store have sheepskins that are more than ten years old?" Guo Song asked.
The shop owner chuckled and said, "If you only want to buy a few pieces, sir, I have them. But if you want to buy them in large quantities, I will be out of stock. The current market price is that sheepskins of two years are the most popular, and at best, sheepskins of three to five years."
"What are the benefits of sheepskin that is more than ten years old?" Guo Song suddenly asked.
The shop owner scratched his head, someone actually asked such a common sense question. However, seeing that Guo Song had a rare figure and extraordinary appearance, he still asked seriously: "Old sheepskin is best for the elderly. In winter, using a ten-year-old sheepskin to wrap your legs will make your whole body better."
You won’t have leg pain due to cold in winter.”
Guo Song nodded, "I understand. In addition, I would like to ask one more question. Last night we encountered a pack of wolves in Langshan. The wolf king seemed to be a giant white wolf. Has the shop owner heard of it?"
The shopkeeper burst out laughing, "Young man, are you just blinding yourself? If you really met the White Wolf King, you would still be standing here, and you would have been torn into pieces long ago."
"Is the White Wolf King famous?"
"Of course, the mountain range in front was originally called Xiaoqingshan, but it was renamed Langshan because of the emergence of the White Wolf King. The White Wolf has been the king of Langshan for generations. We call it the Silver Wolf, and the Golden Wolf is the god of Khans.
The Silver Wolf is the God of the Great Chief. I have been in and out of Langshan for twenty years and have never seen it, but everyone who has seen it has died, so it only exists in legends."
Guo Song suddenly realized that he might have caused big trouble and actually killed the God of the Grassland.
.........
Guo Song walked around the city again before arriving at the inn. The skin of the White Wolf King had been skinned and the wolf carcass was buried deep for disposal. An old coachman was processing the wolf skin in the courtyard. It needed to be soaked in water for two or three days.
Soften the skin before tanning it.
Guo Song's room was ready. As soon as he entered the room and sat down to drink water, there was a knock on the door, "Mr. Guo, it's me!"
It was the voice of team leader Li An. Guo Song quickly stepped forward and opened the door. It was indeed Li An outside.
"Uncle An is looking for me?"
Li An smiled and said: "Mr. Guo, I just inquired about it. This white wolf king is really a rare thing. On average, one will only appear in fifty years. It is known as the King of Wolf Mountain. My master is willing to give you one in Chang'an."
Zhaizi, I hope you can accept it."
"Uncle An, please come in and talk!"
Guo Song invited Li An into the room to sit down, poured him a glass of water, and said to him: "I also know a little bit about the origin of the White Wolf King. It is said that he is the god of the grassland. I suggest you not to bring him with you."
Grassland, I'm worried that it will bring you trouble."
Li An chuckled, "It seems that the young master still doesn't understand the grassland. The wolf is indeed the god worshiped by the tribes in the grassland, but it is also their biggest enemy. Herdsmen will never be merciful in killing wolves, otherwise they will not be able to survive. This is different from
Worshiping a wolf is two different things. Sijie people will only worship the white wolf skin when they see it, but will never complain about you killing it."
"I understand that the grassland tribes only worship the spirit and soul of wolves, not their bodies."
Li An laughed, "Well said, that's what it is!"
Li An took out a folded yellow paper from his arms and put it on the table, pushing it to Guo Song, "This is the deed of a three-acre house in Xuanyangfang. I give it to the young master as a thank you gift!"