Chapter 10: Making money is so hard (Part 2)
In the main hall of the Egyptian Royal Palace in the city of Thebes, among the crowds of powerful and powerful families, there was an exotic traveler wrapped in a turban.
His name is Hassan, and he claims to be a businessman who travels around the world. He was originally not qualified to appear in the palace, but because he had saved the life of the Nile Daughter many times before, he was chosen by Carol as his benefactor. The princess and the king of Memphis were allowed to enter and leave the palace.
——Although this guy's character is a businessman, the strange thing is that in the plot of "Daughter of the Nile", we basically didn't see how this guy does business. Instead, he focused on playing the important role of Carol's plug-in: I don't know why, but this man always appears suddenly at the most critical moment without telepathically communicating with Carol. Moreover, he is also one of the few male characters in the plot of "Daughter of the Nile" who is not obsessed with Carol... Well, can we call him Carol's "blue-faced confidant"?
Take a look at how many great achievements this seemingly humble "businessman" has made in this world:
His first appearance was in the Assyrian palace, where he saved Kyrol who had just swallowed a poisonous flower. Next, when Carol was kidnapped for the second time in Babylon, it was he who secretly transported oil to the Tower of Babel in Babylon where Carol was imprisoned, and achieved the illustrious martial arts feat of the Daughter of the Nile "Burning the Tower of Babel". Next, when a group of people fled to the Devil's Desert, the Hittite spy Luca deliberately pointed in the wrong direction, hoping to make Kairol go to the Hittite trap and surrender. Hassan corrected it based on experience and let Kairol You finally managed to return to Egypt and reunited with King Memphis.
Then, at the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) Temple not long ago, when the pregnant Carol was forced by Queen Isis to fall into the Salt Sea, and was seriously injured and had a miscarriage and was dying, the "businessman" Hasan didn't know it again. How did he show up quietly and save Carol's life? Although Hasan is not very good at gynecological medical issues, the anesthetics he provided at least alleviated the pain of Carol's miscarriage, allowing her to persist until the rescue. arrival of the team.
So far, Mr. Hassan, who has great supernatural powers, has saved Carol four times. He will appear in every crisis. He can be called the most powerful professional plug-in for this little blond girl - knowing astronomy and communicating with others. Geographically, well-connected, he can get everything, he can cure diseases, and he is also proficient in fighting skills. Occasionally, she would read some lyrical poems, such as: "Nothing can be seen in the blue eyes of the daughter of the Nile..." Therefore, Miss Carol could not help but sincerely sigh: "...Hasan, you are so omnipotent. , besides giving birth, what else can’t you do?”
Originally, after the royal fleet arrived at the Thebes Palace in Upper Egypt, there should have been a highlight of Mr. Hassan - that night, King Memphis was unfortunately plotted by his love rival and drank poison at a feast for guests from all over the world. Drinking and nearly dying. As a result, Mr. Hassan showed his special skills and donated some precious herbal medicine to Memphis to save his life, thereby avoiding the death of the Egyptian king and the death of Carol...
However, due to the intrusion of all the time-travelers, the scheduled diplomatic banquet has not been held yet, thus ruining another opportunity for Mr. Hasan to make meritorious deeds. But just relying on his previous achievements was enough to get along like a fish in the Egyptian palace.
At this moment, he was holding an Egyptian palace maid he had just hooked up with in the past two days, and was happily shopping around this crowded department store, enjoying the unprecedented and wonderful pleasure of "shopping in the palace", followed by many dignitaries. They were squeezing together - due to the exquisite swordsmanship displayed by a certain purple-haired violent lady, the stall displaying swords and weapons was currently surrounded by water, and Hasan, who was late, couldn't squeeze in for a while.
Moreover, Hassan is also worried that even if he buys a large number of steel swords, he may not be allowed to traffic them out of Egypt.
Therefore, Hasan pragmatically focused on those civilian products that are not easy to arouse vigilance, and he also felt that he had gained a lot.
He first noticed some beautifully crafted small bowls, cups, plates and saucers, each of which seemed to him to be so colorful and ingenious. Although it is said to be made of clay, it is smoother than jade. Some of the patterns decorated on these tableware were flowers, fish, clouds and wheat ears that he could distinguish, while others were things that he couldn't understand at all, such as flying metal birds. But no matter what kind of patterns were decorated on it, the smooth appearance and beautiful patterns still made Hasan and his female companion unable to put it down. By comparison, even the most exquisite pottery from the palaces of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon looked as crude as gravel when placed next to them.
Then, there are some utensils made of plastic (Hashan had a lot of effort to remember this word from Princess Caroll's mouth before), which look as gorgeous and exquisite as the previous "porcelain", and the texture is It is more lightweight, but it is not heat-resistant enough and cannot be used to cook food directly with fire. The most amazing thing among them is that the shoes made of this "plastic" are as light as straw sandals, but stronger than wood. Even if they are stained with rain and mud, they will not be soaked or damaged. Among them are some particularly exquisite plastic shoes. Although the texture is very soft, they are incredibly almost completely transparent, causing the Egyptian court ladies to exclaim that they are glass shoes!
Therefore, the Egyptian palace maid Nafir, whom Hassan had recently hooked up with, gritted her teeth and took out a silver ring from her collection and exchanged it for a pair of the most expensive purple "crystal slippers" from the stall - I have to admit, this is indeed It is an ingenious work of art. In addition to the sole, the instep and upper are all carefully carved into layers of flower shapes, dyed with various gorgeous colors, and then covered with a layer of completely transparent material. , keeping its surface smooth. When wearing such shoes on your feet, it looks like you have stepped into a flower bush from a distance. If it is illuminated by the sun, it will be as bright as a rainbow after a rainstorm... Miss Naffield really likes it more and more, and she is reluctant to take it off even when sleeping.
Now that she has such beautiful new shoes, she naturally has to match them with equally gorgeous clothes... Unfortunately, Miss Naffield is just an ordinary palace maid, with a low status and a very small salary. Although she was short of money, she could only look at the colorful and brightly colored brocades and satins, printed cottons and chemical fiber cloths on the stalls, drooling with envy - so Miss Nafir, an ancient Egyptian palace maid who lacked moral integrity, immediately made a decisive decision. He sold himself to a rich man and took the initiative to serve as a guide. A buyer and tour guide, he had a heated relationship with Mr. Hasan, who seemed to have a lot of money. He pestered him with coquettish words and soft words, and soon made Mr. Hasan, who had not tasted meat for many days, feel very happy and promised. With many promises from clothes to jewelry to perfume...
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In the bustling hall, while the men were looking at various swords, axes and weapons with gleaming eyes, and the women were chattering and choosing cloth and jewelry, the children of the noble officials who came with the adults also found their belongings. Fun:
Many colorful transparent small squares are packed in large glass bottles, which look as crystal clear and charming as gems. It contains the sweet taste of various fruits, and one taste will make people have endless aftertaste. At this moment, the Indians who were the first to invent sucrose in history have just learned how to grow sugar cane, and they don’t even know how to make sugar. Not tinkered with. So at the other end of the Eurasian continent, neither the Assyrians, Babylonians, nor Egyptians have ever seen "sugar" and can only use fruit juice and honey as sweeteners... Unfortunately, due to the weather in Egypt It was too hot, so the time-travelers really didn't dare to put the chocolate out, lest it melt into a lump of paste.
In addition, what also excites children are some cylindrical metal cans with colorful patterns painted on the surface and delicious sweet drinks inside. Unfortunately, opening this kind of metal can requires very troublesome skills. Even though the foreigner sister selling the goods has demonstrated it many times on the spot, most of the children still can't figure out how to do it.
Moreover, when opening this kind of can, you must not shake it casually, otherwise the drink inside will "pop" and pour all over people's heads and faces... It's just a small thing to get dirty, but so What a shame what a rare drink was wasted.
——For children, this is just a luxury product for entertainment, but in the eyes of businessmen, it is a high-quality product that can be sold at a huge profit in a second hand!
In the eyes of Hasan, a professional businessman, in addition to these delicious candies and sweet drinks that can excite every child, the salt on display here is also an unprecedented high-end product. At first glance, it is really white. Like snow, as fine as sea sand, with almost no impurities. Even with Hasan's extensive knowledge, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "...How was this made? How could there be such pure salt in the world?"
——Although modern people are accustomed to fine white refined salt, the salt in ancient times is not so fine and white!
In ancient times with backward technological conditions, the method of preparing sea salt in most countries, whether in the East or the West, was to simply boil sea water in a large pot, and then scrape out the remaining crystals from the bottom of the pot. , which is sea salt that is ready for sale.
However, it is obviously impossible to dissolve only sodium chloride in seawater, so this rough sea salt will inevitably be mixed with some other impurities, such as magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, magnesium carbonate, etc., and the taste is also very bitter, plus Some dust and wood chips that enter the salt during cooking or transportation will have even more impurities mixed in the salt grains - not to mention that there are many profiteers who like to mix sand into the salt to make money.
Even those mineral salts produced in natural salt ponds or salt mines, which are said to be pure, contain much less impurities than sea salt. But it can't be like modern refined salt, which looks like white snow, with not even a trace of black spots to be found... but rather somewhat yellowed and black, which makes modern people unappetizing at first sight. As for the coarse salt eaten by the poor, it is directly called "black salt". It is said that the bitter taste is stronger than the salty taste...
Based on Hashan's experience, it is speculated that if these snowflake-like refined salts can be transshipped and sold to inland areas away from the coast, then they can definitely be sold at a high price equal to their weight in gold. Even in coastal ports, such salt was at least as valuable as silver.
In addition, there is something called a match, which also amazed Mr. Hasan - just a short wooden stick, as long as it is rubbed against the box, it can ignite an orange flame. It is really convenient and can be called the best companion for travelers.
In ancient times, whether in the East or the West, making fire was an extremely troublesome matter. In those martial arts novels, the scenes where martial arts masters carry fire sticks with them and can light a bonfire with just a flick are obviously all The overly artistic fabrications of novelists are at least very late in their history. In fact, when the ancients in BC really needed to light a fire, they usually could only use a special knife to repeatedly hit flint - a stone that is relatively hard and can produce sparks when hit violently - to make it burst out sparks. Burn dry tinder, then ignite dead leaves and dry grass, and finally ignite the firewood to light a bonfire... You don't need to try it, just listen to it, and you will know how troublesome this thing is. If you encounter a clumsy guy or encounter rainy and humid weather, it is common for you to struggle for half an hour and still not be able to light the fire.
In those densely populated villages or towns in ancient times, lazy housewives often went to their neighbors' houses to "borrow a fire". But the problem is that in the sparsely populated ancient world, it was not possible to find someone who could "borrow a fire" everywhere - in contrast, modern matches, which are easy to use, reliable and easy to carry, are not suitable for people who often need to travel around. For travelers, it is extremely practical in the wild.
Therefore, almost as soon as he saw this magical "match", Hassan made up his mind to purchase a large amount... However, before that, he had to deal with Miss Naffield's soft-spoken plea - this pongee The wealthy Egyptian girl who worshiped money accurately figured out Hasan's net worth and bottom line. She grabbed a roll of Japanese silk, a piece of dyed cotton and a small butterfly-shaped aluminum alloy jewelry from the stall, and presented it to her boyfriend. Mobile wallets keep beckoning.
In short, under the coquettishness of his female companion, Mr. Hassan, who had just received a large reward from the King of Egypt, generously took out a handful of broken silver nuggets and patted them on the stall. Looking at the small silver pieces that Hashan took out from his luggage, Nan Lixiang, who was sitting behind the stall, also sighed with relief:
"... Finally there is another guy who is willing to pay with gold and silver! Ma Tongsang! Ma Tongsang! Come here quickly to collect the money!"
"...Let him wait for a while, I'm busy here!" Senior Sister Ma Tong, who was standing on the other side of the hall, replied casually without looking back, without any sense of "the customer is God", "... ...You idiots, lift them up for me Be careful not to break the rope and let this beast escape and hit the distinguished guests here! Otherwise, even if I can spare you, King Memphis will skin you!"< br>
——At this time, she was commanding a group of naked black slaves with big muscles and round waists, working together to lift a live crocodile tied up and stuff it into the [automatic pawn machine]. And behind this Nile crocodile that was used to pay off the debt, there was also a hippopotamus, a lion, a herd of goats and two elephants... Well, if it were a pawn shop in modern China in the 21st century, on which day would it be unfortunate? If they receive such a large number of live and aggressive "pawns", everyone from the store manager to the temporary workers will immediately become hysterical and have a nervous breakdown!
However, this was the sad commercial status quo of "bartering" among Egyptians and even the entire Middle Eastern civilization in the early days of the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt...