Chapter 18 Limin City

After finishing his shift, Li Jiancheng did not return home, but led his people to West Market (Liming Market), where all kinds of strange things gathered, including clothing shops, medicine shops, silk shops, scale shops, and silk shops, selling everything from medicines, furs, bamboo products, ceramics to silk, jewelry, etc.

There are many inns, taverns and food stalls around the street, and you can see Hu Ji dancers and folk art acrobatics on the street.

This place is much more lively and noisy than the East Market, and of course more crowded. To the east are mule and horse shops, knife and gun warehouses, saddle and bridle shops, and to the west are tomb bookstores.

Li Jiancheng ordered his servants to get some money and silk from his own shop. The money could be put on account in the East Market, but not in the West Market. It had to be paid in cash. Copper coins or silk would be fine. As for gold and silver, it depended on whether the other party wanted them or not. They could not be considered as currencies that could be traded directly.

After strolling around for a while, I understood the market situation. One penny could buy three eggs, fifteen pennies a dou of rice, and thirty-five pennies could buy a chicken. Laying hens were more expensive. In the tavern, a dou of ordinary liquor cost one hundred and fifty pennies, and a dou of good wine cost three hundred pennies. The wine that Li Jiancheng drank in Canxia Tower cost by the guan.

One guan is equivalent to one thousand wen, which is more than six pounds. Half a guan can buy a pig, but if you want to buy an ordinary horse, it will cost twenty-five guan, and it is difficult to find a good horse even at a hundred guan.

Ordinary horses are not expensive, but they are expensive to raise. Every month, you have to feed this horse at least three stone of millet, sixty rounds of grass, and some salt. This means a fixed cost of more than one string of money every month.

The price of a strong servant is not much different from that of a horse, more than 20 strings of coins, but it is much cheaper to raise than a horse. If you want to buy a property in Chang'an, even in a remote market, it will cost hundreds of strings of coins.

If you want a mansion as big as the Duke of Tang's Mansion and very close to the imperial palace, you first need a certain rank and status, and then you have six or seven thousand strings of cash, then you can probably buy it.

Silk can also replace copper coins. One piece of silk is approximately equal to half a string of coins. Sometimes it rises and sometimes it falls. Nowadays, the world is peaceful and the difference is not big, with a fluctuation of only a dozen cents.

Li Jiancheng came here to buy a cat and dog. The queen now desperately needed to divert her attention, and Li Jiancheng also needed a more appropriate reason to see the queen. After all, he was not as capable as the eldest princess in entering the palace to pay a visit at will.

As for whether the Queen likes it or not, that is unknown. I have never heard that the Queen likes it, but I have also never heard that she doesn't like it. But after all, the younger generation is filial and will not throw it away.

If she doesn't like him, then I guess he will be just like an ordinary mouse-catching cat or night patrol dog in the palace, muddling through his days. If the queen likes him, then he will be a noble favorite with servants, monthly allowance and salary.

It was still early and the West Market was not far from the Duke's Mansion, so Li Jiancheng was not in a hurry. He just asked someone to look for it and he went into the mule and horse shop. He was good at riding and shooting, so he naturally liked good horses.

After a round of searching, I found two or three nice horses, but the price was too high, and they were not as good as those in the Duke's Mansion, let alone those bestowed by the Emperor some time ago.

Before Li Jiancheng left the mule and horse shop, he saw a circle of vendors at the door with dogs in cages and leading them. It was very lively. They all knew that a noble relative had arrived, and if they could get one they liked, they could ask for a high price.

Of course, they wouldn't dare to ask for too much. Apart from anything else, the Li family owns more than twenty shops of all sizes in the West Market. It's easy to ask for money, but they still have to do business here in the future.

Li Jiancheng looked around and saw everything, not just cats and dogs, but also parrots, lynxes, kites, goshawks, and even fish and turtles in the tank. All kinds of things were available.

The animal given to the empress must be small and docile. A kitten is a good choice, but the incident of Dugu Tuo's cat ghost a few years ago made it taboo to give a cat to the empress, so people chose a dog instead.

Most of them were hunting dogs. After all, the best thing for people at that time was to go out of the city to hunt. The Duke's Mansion had two small dogs owned by Li Jiancheng and five Taicang hunting dogs owned by Li Yuan. Maybe I can only give the queen the parrot that can speak auspicious words.

Just when Li Jiancheng was still struggling, a tall brown-haired Hu man came up and saluted, and a man dressed as a servant beside him also bowed and said, "Greetings, sir. We are from Fulin Country. Perhaps we have something you need."

Li Jiancheng really didn't know where the so-called Fulin Kingdom was. This kind of foreign name has been used differently with the change of dynasties, but it doesn't matter.

After taking a look, he found that the two men did not bring any cages. When he was about to ask, the Hu man took out a small dog from his wide sleeves. The dog looked to be about six inches tall and more than a foot long. Its whole body was snow-white, except for its nose and eyes, which were black. It was very cute.

Pekingese dogs were extremely rare at that time, and could only be found by chance in Chang'an. He had not heard of anyone raising such a dog. Li Jiancheng looked at the puppy and asked, "Is this dog docile?"

The Hu man took the initiative to hand the dog to Zhao Da who was beside Li Jianshen. The little dog was obviously a little scared, but still stuck out its tongue obediently and barked a few times in grievance. Even though Zhao Da deliberately tossed it around, it didn't bite anyone, so it was obviously well-trained.

Li Jiancheng waved his hand to stop the Hu man who was still talking about how rare it was to bring a whole litter of dogs from thousands of miles away, and in the end only this one survived, and said with a smile: "Name the price."

The green eyes of the Hu man seemed to be glowing, but he still had concerns. He stretched out his hand and said something. The servant said, "One hundred strings of cash."

If he didn't pick out strong servants, he could buy more than a dozen people. However, Li Jiancheng nodded indifferently. It was too cheap for him to give it away. The Empress's simplicity was hers, but if his gift was too simple, it would be disrespectful.

The vendors around were all very envious, and the guys at the mule and horse shop cast their eyes on the Hu merchant, obviously having some feelings for him, but this had nothing to do with Li Jiancheng.

Spending money does feel good. Li Jiancheng, who was not satisfied, spent another ten strings of coins to buy the lynx and asked someone to send it to Yang's house. This creature has short front legs and long hind legs. It is good at killing rabbits, mice, sheep, deer and other animals. It is light and flexible, runs fast, has great endurance, can climb trees and swim, and is very suitable as a hunting companion.

I remember that when they were hunting in spring last year, Sanlang of the Pei family had one. Yang Jishan and he were quite envious of it, but they forgot about it the next time. It's a good opportunity to send it to him now, but I don't know if he can tame it. If possible, I'll ask him to help tame one next time.

He also bought a few good-looking hunting dogs and asked people to send them to the Dou Jiayuan family and the Dugu family.

He kept the parrot and a few cats at home. The parrot could teach Erlang to say nice things, and the cats could keep the mice in the warehouse in the backyard, which would never stay still at night, in line.

As it was getting dark, he had no intention of staying in the West Market, so he led his servants back home. On the way, he went into his own pharmacy, picked out some precious medicinal herbs, and asked someone to deliver them to Gao's house.

After returning home, he changed his clothes and had his own servants take care of the cats, dogs and parrots. He went to visit his mother and also to see the waiter. After all, he would have to help in conquering the world in the future.

Dou was reading a letter sent by her husband. When she saw her son coming back, she handed it to him directly. Li Jiancheng's good mood disappeared immediately. He took it and saw that half of the letter was lecturing him that he should not offend the emperor. In the end, it told him to stay at home and not go to the palace to be a attendant. Everything should be planned after his return.

...............

(End of this chapter)