As Yan Changqing walked forward, some of the merchants who had dealt with him before also nodded slightly at Yan Changqing. They were not as respectful as the shopkeeper beside Yan Changqing.
After all, those who were able to reach their level of business were basically backed by one or more important officials of the imperial court.
Or rather, they were the white gloves of the families behind some important officials of the imperial court!
Yan Changqing was just a ninth grade scholar of the Imperial Academy. It was not worth it for them to lower their heads.
If Yan Changqing hadn't been so generous in the past, they wouldn't even have nodded to greet him.
Not long after Yan Changqing took his seat on the second floor, a hubbub came from the first floor again. Before he could see who it was, he could already hear an arrogant voice.
"Is this the small-scale trade fair you were talking about?!!”
"Why does it look so tattered?!!”
"Can you really buy rare treasures here?!!”
"If you dare to lie to this young master, I'll make it impossible for your trading company to continue operating in Yingtian Prefecture!!!”
A young master in his twenties with a pale face and frivolous footsteps said impatiently as he hugged a beautiful woman who was smiling coquettishly.
"Young Master Hu, don't worry. The people sitting here are all famous merchants from all over the country.”
"Not only did the goods reach the Great Ming, but they also reached the overseas countries!”
"You can definitely find a rare treasure that suits your taste here!”
The middle-aged shopkeeper beside the young master comforted him in a very low voice.
"Hmph, it's best if you are!"
The young master snorted coldly and immediately walked up to the second floor.
After this small episode, there were no more waves.
Soon, a capable old man walked to the small platform in the middle of the first floor. He smiled and said in a loud and powerful voice,
"Thank you all for coming. My surname is Li. You can call me Manager Li.”
"This old man is in charge of this trade fair. It mainly deals with the precious items obtained by the various large trading companies, as well as the exchange of goods between them."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the young master from before.
"Hurry up and start. If you continue to be long-winded, this young master will find someone to capture you!!!”
The smile on Manager Li's face froze, but he seemed to know the identity of the other party, so he did not get angry. Instead, he nodded obediently and said,
"Alright, since Young Master Hu is anxious, this old man will not be long-winded.”
"Now, the first item will be traded--”
"This Beauty Pearl is the size of a baby's fist. Its color is warm and smooth. It's a rare pearl of the highest quality!”
"The lowest price is five thousand taels!"
......
One by one, the rare treasures that were hard to come by were traded.
However, these were not attractive to Yan Changqing at all. He just silently sipped his tea at the side and watched the scene of others trading.
All in all, the merchants present were very low-key.
Even if they had their eyes on the same product as other merchants, there would be no competition.
At most, he would bid for a few rounds. When the transaction price exceeded his psychological expectations, he would cupped his hands slightly at the other party to indicate that he would not bid.
However, it was unknown where that Young Master Hu came from. His attitude was very arrogant!
Once he took a fancy to a certain product, he would definitely bid for it.
Even if there were other big merchants who had their eyes on the same item, after bidding for one or two rounds, they would still be able to buy it.
The middle-aged shopkeeper who had been following the young master surnamed Hu would walk to the other party and whisper a few words to him. Then, the other party would give up on bidding.
"Everyone, the next item to be auctioned is one of our finale treasures-Ambergris!!!”
"As we all know, ambergris is generally divided into three grades according to its color. Gray is low-grade ambergris, light gray is middle-grade ambergris, and white is high-grade ambergris.”
"The ambergris that we salvaged from the ships of other overseas merchants that were in trouble this time is the size of a Cuju ball. It's completely white and is definitely the best ambergris among the ambergris!!!”
Shopkeeper Li, who was standing in front of the trading desk, introduced in an excited tone.
At the same time, two strongmen carried a somewhat broken wooden box wrapped in vines and placed it on the trading platform.
Then, Manager Li opened the wooden box and immediately revealed a top-grade white ambergris the size of a cuju ball!
Other than ambergris, there were also a few buds with thin whiskers on one end wrapped in green leather clothes, as well as some shells and miscellaneous stones mixed in.
"When we salvaged this box, the seal on it was already damaged.”
"Fortunately, the top-grade Ambergris inside wasn't lost because of this. It's still in the box. There's just some sea debris.”
Shopkeeper Li pointed at the top-grade ambergris in the wooden box and introduced it. In order to show the origin of this top-grade ambergris and the difficulty of fishing it out, he said,
They didn't even clean up the junk on the boxes and just shipped them over.
It was all for the sake of selling it for a higher price!
Yan Changqing, who was drinking tea casually, looked up casually and was immediately stunned.
However, unlike the others who were focused on ambergris, Yan Changqing's eyes were fixed on the vines wrapped around the wooden box.
And the few sticks in the box that had green leather clothing and thin whiskers on one end!
That was…Sweet potato vines?
And corn?
Yan Changqing was shocked.
Although he felt that in this era, it was possible to obtain the three major crops of South America through overseas trading.
But in fact, this was really just a matter of luck.
Ever since he had this idea, he had been to Nanjing's various docks and large markets dozens of times!
But up until now, he had only managed to find a few potatoes by luck at the end of last year.
If he hadn't discovered it in time, those potatoes would have been eaten by that merchant in the end.
The potatoes were still planted in the backyard, and he estimated that they would be harvested soon.
However, even though he had gotten the potatoes, Yan Changqing was still not confident that he could get the other two South American crops.
After all, luck was too illusory and unreliable.
Unlike mathematics, geography, physics, chemistry, and other subjects, which were clear and reliable!
......
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