Wang Ting selected five strong and quick-witted men from the clan. They put the prepared paper equipment into their baskets and set off. Their destination was Hanshou, the capital of Jingzhou (later moved to Xiangyang, and moved to Gongan during Liu Bei's time). Before he left, he asked the village chief to selflessly donate all the savings in the village, a total of five strings.
Wang Ting had his own considerations for doing this. Firstly, he considered that he needed to buy some clothes. He couldn't wear these to talk to merchants. After all, he didn't know what the world was like, so he didn't want the other party to bully him. Secondly, it was not easy for him to go out, so he had to bring some salt and other necessities along the way.
As Wang Ting was a weak scholar and had just recovered from a serious illness, he only carried some food.
After seven days of trekking, they finally saw the Hanshou City Wall on the morning of the seventh day. From a distance, the city wall was not very high. It was only two or three stories high. It was built with green bricks that Wang Ting could only see in ancient tombs in his previous life.
There were many brick stacks on the city wall, which were probably used to guard the city and shoot arrows. The city gate was wide, about 20 meters thick, which was similar to some of the ancient cities he had visited in his previous life. The guards at the city gate didn't ask any questions, and the group entered the ancient city that the royal court had never seen before.
The roads in the city were also paved with green bricks. On both sides of the road, there were shops to buy rice and clothing. There were two or three people on the road. Because they rarely came to Hanshou City, even if they did, they would buy the things they needed and return immediately. They did not know where to sell paper.
Seeing that it was almost noon, Wang Ting and the others discussed whether they should have a simple meal first, then buy clothes for them and ask about where they should go.
The group walked while looking for an inn. Wang Ting was fine. After all, he had come from another world and had seen the prosperity of modern cities. He was only slightly interested in the architectural style of ancient cities like Han and Japan, but there was nothing that surprised him. However, the others had rarely been to such a big and prosperous city. Naturally, they discussed as they walked.
" Wait." When they passed by a rice store, Wang Ting asked everyone to stop because of the big " Mi " sign on the door. Although Wang Ting wasn't a fan of the Three Kingdoms, he knew that there was indeed a person surnamed Mi who was extremely wealthy in the Three Kingdoms. He was Liu Bei's brother-in-law, Mi Zhu. In order to support Liu Bei's struggle for hegemony, he not only sacrificed his sister, but he also sacrificed all of his family property.
Looking at this word, he didn't know if this was the other. Wang Ting secretly noted down the address of the rice shop and called everyone to continue looking for an inn. Not far ahead, they saw an inn with a simple house. The group looked at each other and nodded. With the little money they had, they could only choose this one.
Although the inn was simple and crude, it was clean inside. Wang Ting and the others checked into the three guest rooms and placed the papers and leftover dried meat. They then went to the hall in the front of the house that was specially used for guests to eat. There were five square tables in the hall, and the food was very simple. Other than the meat made from salt, there was also some fish soup. The staple food was made of corn and vegetables.
Wang Ting also asked the waiter to bring some of the best rice wine for everyone's hard work over the past few days. In fact, farmers didn't feel that it was hard. After all, it was easier than hunting in the mountains. However, Wang Ting couldn't stand the pain of traveling long distances, and so on. Anyway, he was very confident in his trip, so he ordered some rice wine.
In fact, Wang Ting also wanted to taste the best wine in the late Han Dynasty to compare it with the white wine he drank in his previous life. After all, he still knew too little about this world. Now was the time to learn. Modesty made one improve.
The wine was similar to the one he drank in the village, but it was slightly clearer. It was not as turbid as the cheap wine bought by the people in the village. The alcohol content was slightly higher, about 10-20 degrees. While the waiter was serving the dishes, Wang Ting asked,""Shopkeeper, do you know if there is a clothing shop nearby?”
"Guest, there is a clothing shop. There is a shop called Lu's Cloth Shop in the back street of our shop. Not only do they sell cloth, they also sell all kinds of ready-made clothes.”
"Where can I buy or sell writing tools?”Wang Ting continued to ask.
"Guest, there aren't any of these nearby. You need to go to the inner city's east street to look for them.”
"Then does Second Brother know who owns the rice shop with the word Mi written on it not far from the city gate?”
"Guest, you've asked. My family bought the corn from the Mei Clan's shop, so I know that it belongs to East Sea's Mei Zhu Mei Lang. The Mi Clan is a family of our Han Dynasty. The wealth they earn from doing business in our Han Dynasty is comparable to that of a country.”
After asking about the place and the questions they wanted to know, Wang Ting and the others ate without saying anything and thought about their actions in the afternoon.
After the meal, Wang Ting chose a middle-aged man named Wang Tao to go with him to the clothing store the waiter mentioned and buy two sets of suitable clothes. Of course, Wang Ting chose a set of young master clothes for him, and Wang Tao was dressed as an attendant. After returning to the inn to rest for a while, he asked Wang Tao to bring some papers out. Wang Ting did not go to the inner city to find the place the waiter had mentioned. He first went to the Mei Clan Rice Shop. He was willing to do nothing else. Wang Ting believed in the foresight of the shopkeeper chosen by Mei Zhu. If he could really hook up with Mei Zhu, it would be twice the result with half the effort for his future plans.
"Customer, do you want to buy rice?"
"No, I don't want to buy rice. I want to see your shopkeeper.”
"Yes, may I know why you are looking for the shopkeeper?”Seeing that Wang Ting was pretending not to be bad, he didn't dare to make things difficult for him.
"Ha, actually, I was instructed by Mei Zhu to look for your shopkeeper.”Wang Ting said rudely. The more polite he was, the more he explained. Wang Ting decided to bluff.
"Oh, then Young Master, please wait in the living room for a while. I will go and invite my shopkeeper.”When the waiter heard this, he did not dare to be negligent. He quickly let Wang Ting and Wang Ling into the living room, then turned around and went to the back hall to call the shopkeeper.
"May I know who my master has entrusted me with?”Following the voice, an old man in his fifties entered. The old man had white hair, a square face, and a short beard. He wore a gray Han Dynasty robe and his eyes were bright. One could tell at a glance that he was a shrewd person.
"Old mister, please forgive this child for being presumptuous. I was not entrusted by Mi Lang, but I had no choice but to meet you.”After saying that, Wang Ting cupped his fists and bowed.
"Old sir, please look at this before asking.”Without waiting for the old man to speak, Wang Ting turned around and had Wang Tao take out a piece of paper that was one meter square.
The old man took the piece of paper in confusion. When he took it and looked at it, his eyes immediately widened. He quickly walked to the square table in the living room and laid it flat on it. He rubbed it with his hands as he looked at it. "Where did this thing come from? It's so magical. Is it used to write records? I wonder who created it? How much is it worth? How much?" The old man asked excitedly.
In fact, the use of paper had already appeared at the end of the Han Dynasty. It was created by Cai Lun in 105 AD. However, the production was very small and extremely rough and impractical. The market price was very high. Coupled with the current chaotic times, the production was very small. Now, bamboo slips were the main product, and very few aristocratic families used silk as a substitute.
"Just like what the old mister said, it is for the purpose of writing records and for my leisure time. As for the quantity, I only need to increase the manpower.”
"Oh, I see. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ah, Little Lord, can you demonstrate it for me to see the effect?”The old man sighed a few times in a row, letting Wang Ting know that this matter had succeeded, and he was secretly happy.
"What's so difficult about that? Please prepare a brush and inkstone.”
After he was done with his preparations, Wang Ting held his sleeve in one hand and a pen in the other. He wrote down the poem he had printed in the corner of the paper: " There is a path in the mountain of books, and the boat is hard to learn in the endless sea." The words imitated Grandpa Mao's handwriting. They were written in a flamboyant manner, majestic and grand, like flowing clouds and flowing water.
"Good. Not only does Young Master have the skills of a master craftsman, but Young Master's calligraphy and poetry are also the talents of a great scholar. Zhang Li, hurry up and serve some tea. Prepare some wine for the young master in the study. I want to treat this noble young master well.”
F * ck, I just finished my meal. I know you're so polite, so I won't eat lunch. Sigh, what a waste.
This shopkeeper was indeed well-versed and experienced. He immediately discovered a large number of business opportunities from the paper. It was not a large number, but unprecedented. How could he not seize the business opportunity to open up a new world? He was overjoyed. This time, not only did he bring business opportunities and wealth to his Lord, but he would also definitely not be short of it. Moreover, his position would definitely be smooth sailing and he would rise all the way, hahaha.
This was the first time Wang Ting had seen such a rich variety of food since he came to the Han Dynasty. There were no less than 30 dishes of all natural food, such as flying in the sky, swimming in the water, jumping in the grass, and running on the ground. It was obvious that the shopkeeper valued them. Wang Ting felt more and more regretful about having lunch. He had been scolding the shopkeeper's mother for being up to no good. Of course, he couldn't scold his own senior for something he regretted. He could only let the shopkeeper's senior suffer. Wang Tao, who was at the side, was also drooling. His eyes were shining, and he wished that he could eat as much as he could.
In the end, after a discussion between the two parties, Wang Ting handed the exclusive rights to the Mi Family. The Mi Family would split the profits according to the ratio of three to seven. The price would be based on a one-dollar bill first. Wang Ting also wanted the other party to pay 100,000 gold for the exclusive rights in advance.
Originally, Wang Ting had wanted to ask for an exorbitant price and was waiting for the shopkeeper to haggle. However, the shopkeeper did not haggle. Due to the limitations of his duties and the small amount of gold stored in the branch, he first gave Wang Ting 10,000 gold to accept the papers that Wang Ting and the others had brought. At the same time, he arranged for someone to quickly report to Mei Zhu in Donghai for a decision. He didn't let Wang Ting return to the inn. Instead, he sent someone to follow Wang Tao to the inn to pick up the others and arrange a small courtyard for them to stay in the rice shop.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。