The daily life of a concubine's daughter

Chapter 349 Changing Scented Bags

Suddenly seeing Shi Yao and Shi Mingchen, brother and sister, running in and playing around, the old lady asked with relief, "Why is the show ending an hour earlier this year?"

Shi Yao stood up straight and walked to the elders to greet them. She smiled and said, "It's too hot. I can't sit still. The umbrella I brought is not enough to shade my seventh brother and I, so I came back to take a break."

Shi Mingchen saw that the Xie family was extremely uncomfortable, so he greeted them and went back to his own small courtyard to be alone.

The old lady was not in high spirits. She touched him a few more times, asked about what happened at the banquet, then said she was tired, went back to her room to take a nap, and gave her seat to Shi Yao.

Shi Yao gave up her seat to Xie Jibai, but Xie Jibai didn't dare to sit there, let alone sit behind Shi Yao, so he went to play Go by himself.

Shi Yao played twice, and the old Duke said he was tired, so everyone dispersed.

The old Duke invited Mr. Xie to take a nap in the outer courtyard, and asked Jiang Miao to play chess with Xie Jibai: "…We are all relatives, so get to know each other better, so that we won't meet on the street and not recognize each other face to face."

Shi Yao watched them play chess, and after a game, she invited them to have tea: "This year's pre-rain Longjing, you should try it."

Then he took out two self-woven colorful ropes and gave one to each of them. Finally, while Jiang Miao was making tea, he quietly asked Xie Jibai: "Where is the purse I gave you last time?"

Xie Jibai hurriedly took it off from his waist and said, "I always wear it with me."

Shi Yao snatched it away. The purse was clean and there was something hard inside. She squeezed it and asked, "What's in it?"

Xie Jibai smiled and said, "It's a holiday gift for the girl, a seal. Because I don't know the girl's handwriting, I only engraved her name. If it's offensive, I'll change it and give it to you."

Shi Yao hung the purse on her waist, ignoring Xie Jibai's stunned expression, and casually took off a sachet, saying with a smile: "I don't have any words. Let's exchange, it's just right, I also have a holiday gift for you."

Xie Jibai held the sachet that gave off a faint fragrance and stared at the purse: "But...but...that purse was the first gift the girl gave me."

Shi Yao was too embarrassed to say that the purse was embroidered by the maids: "Well, I can't hold the seal in my hand. Let's do this for now and talk about it later."

Then he said he lost it accidentally.

"..."

Xie Jibai was speechless.

Shi Yao smiled secretly. She finally understood why men liked to marry women of lower status.

It is easy to marry someone of lower status, and the other party dare not offend you.

She was about to coax him when Jiang Miao, who was not far away, said: “…Ahem!”

Xie Jibai lowered his head and pretended to study the chess manual.

Shi Yao looked calm as usual. She walked over, knelt down opposite Jiang Miao, and asked casually, "Cousin, is your throat uncomfortable? My mother had a cough the other day, and my eldest sister-in-law gave her some Chuanbei loquat paste, which worked very well. Can I mix some for you to try?"

At that time, Ji Yun was just making an excuse, and the maid went back to report it. Fu Nanjun took it to heart, and before evening, he asked someone to send loquat paste to Guanju Courtyard.

Ji Yun praised: "Grandma is thoughtful and considerate."

After hearing what Shi Yao said, Jiang Miao smiled faintly: "I was uncomfortable just now, but now I feel better. I don't need your loquat paste."

Shi Yao talked to him about tea. She liked Longjing tea, Jiang Miao liked Biluochun tea. Xie Jibai joined the chat group at this time. Shi Yao asked him what kind of tea he liked. He answered honestly: "My family also has a tea business. I will taste the new tea I harvest. I usually like Lu'an Guapian tea the most."

The tea soup boils, and Jiang Miao washes and brews the tea skillfully.

The three of them sniffed the tea aroma and tasted the new Longjing tea. Shi Yao asked curiously, "Does our Jiangnan tea also sell abroad? Where do we usually sell it? By sea or by land?"

Jiang Miao couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Is this “our Jiangnan”?

But he always kept in mind the demeanor of a young master from an aristocratic family and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Xie Jibai smiled and said, "If we sell to neighboring countries, we can go by land. If we sell to Southeast Asia, we can go by sea."

He mentioned the names of some countries and their characteristics.

Because he was a painter, he always had mineral materials on hand to develop new pigments.

"…I often ask my friends to bring back some minerals and pigments from foreign countries that we don't have. Although I have never been to these countries, I can roughly see their mineral reserves by looking at their lacquerware, wood carvings, pottery, paintings, pigments, etc. and the richness of their colors.

For example, green and blue often contain copper, red and brown often contain iron, cinnabar should contain mercury, orange and yellow should contain realgar orpiment, and black should contain magnets.

The richer the colors, the richer the country and the more diverse its culture and customs. The more a certain color is used and the more similar colors there are, the richer the corresponding mineral reserves of the country are..."

Shi Yao and Jiang Miao's eyes gradually widened.

When you draw a picture, can you also show whether the country is poor or rich?

Shi Yao swallowed and said, "So, should we do business with countries that are rich in colors?"

Xie Jibai took a sip of tea and put down the teacup. Jiang Miao immediately refilled his cup.

Xie Jibai replied: "Of course. It's just my humble opinion. In business, gold and silver are mainly used for transactions, and barter is also used.

Merchants in our dynasty often use tea, porcelain, and silk to exchange for furs, beef, mutton, and spices from the north, and pearls and various gemstones from the south. The court also does business, and the largest part of the business is trading horses with the north. In addition to tea, porcelain, and silk, we also exchange salt and iron.

Shi Yao was quite interested in the Maritime Silk Road and asked, "I just heard you say that tea is sold to neighboring countries and Southeast Asia, so why not to the West? I see that the table clocks we use every day come from the West."

She thought Xie Jibai had forgotten to mention it, or didn't know which countries there were in the West. She was still quite interested in the West at that time.

Xie Jibai smiled faintly, shook his head and said, "Whether by land or sea, it usually takes a year or so to go to the West. If you encounter bad weather or get lost, it may take three to five years.

If tea leaves are stored for a year, their flavor will change or they will simply become moldy. Merchants in our country would naturally like to do this business, but they cannot do it.”

Shi Yao opened her eyes slightly.

Impossible!

Tea, silk, and porcelain are the three most profitable items in our country's foreign trade. How could tea be left out?

She tilted her head and thought, what went wrong? Xie Jibai couldn't have lied to her about this.

Jiang Miao was also very interested in maritime trade. Seeing that Shi Yao stopped asking, he continued to ask and diligently refilled the tea.

The imperial court also engaged in maritime trade at the beginning of the dynasty, but later banned it. However, the profits were huge and the trade could not be stopped despite repeated bans. The palace and the powerful also used imported goods, and even officials, nobles, and royal families participated in maritime trade privately.

Now it is between ban and not ban, and the emperor turns a blind eye.

Xie Jibai talked about porcelain and silk and their popularity overseas.

Jiang Miao asked about the price.

Xie Jibai didn't want to say it, but after thinking about it, it wasn't a secret, so he said, "People in foreign countries love porcelain the most. If it is shipped to the West, a slightly more refined one will be worth the same weight as gold. There are many small countries in the West, and each country has a royal family. The royal family is proud to own porcelain."

What this means is that one tael of porcelain is equivalent to one tael of gold!