Speaking of India, the two Indian ladies were full of pride and introduced their country's specialties to Bing'er Xue'er like a few family treasures: "We have a wide variety of fruits in India, all year round. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info The cheapest is the banana, which is large, not only smooth, but also tender yellow in color, a dozen (twelve) only costs seven or eight rupees, and one rupee is equivalent to half a penny of your Qing country, that is to say, a dozen bananas only cost four pennies of the Qing Dynasty. Pomegranates in India are large, sweet and juicy; There are also lychees, which are sold with leaves and are very fresh. ”

Mrs. Ashmita patiently introduced Indian fruits: "The most famous fruit in India is the mango. There are about 400 varieties, the big ones are the size of watermelons, and the small ones are about the same as apricots. There are many colors such as red, yellow, and green. There is a mango juice water that is so abundant that you can smoke it by digging a small hole. There are also papaya, ginseng fruit, coconut, sugar cane, cherries, apples, jackfruit, and many more. Fruits such as papaya, ginseng fruit, and coconut are not as good as those in Yunnan. ”

Mrs. Ashmita speaks very practically, one is one, two is two, and she never fools people. Cher had a desire to visit India. Cher's main focus is on buying Indian fruits, cotton, gems and spices. The small lady can be transported at any time without having to travel long distances, which is a unique and good condition. I contacted Xiaoeniang through Tianmu. Yun'er was very uneasy, not knowing whether the two noble ladies were reliable or not. I'm afraid that part of India is full of animals, right? In the tropics, there is not even winter, what insects are not? If you are bitten by a poisonous snake, it can be fatal.

Xue'er said with a smile: "The warm introduction of the two ladies Xue'er is very touching, but there are almost 10,000 miles away from Daqing in India, can we still eat it when we go there to buy fruit and ship it back?" ”

The two Indian ladies laughed and said sorry again and again.

Mrs. Ashmita also gave a brief introduction to Bing'er Xue'er about the situation in India's neighboring Nepal. It is said that it is very cheap to buy gems in Nepal, and to go to India you have to go through Nepal, and when you return, you buy gems. She said that in addition to producing gemstones, Nepal also produces crimson crystal, topaz, marine blue stone, lapis lazuli, coral, etc., which are of high quality and low price. Buying rough stones can be valued by weight, and cloth in Nepal is also cheap. There are also Buddhist statues, prayer wheels, charm boxes, scripture colored cloths and other religious items. Then there are handicrafts, mainly gem-inlaid jewelry boxes, wood carvings, ukuleles, antiques and so on.

When it comes to going to India, Cher is still hesitant, after all, it is 5,000 miles, which is too far away, and it is difficult to guarantee that there will be any accidents on the road. Now it's not me and Bing'er, but I still have a pair of children, what if something happens?

Bing'er also didn't want to go, he was embarrassed to say. He himself did not believe in the two Indian ladies very much. Although it is a bit dangerous in Yunnan, it is so far away from Wu Sangui, and it can change places at any time, there are not as many people as before, and there are no performances, counting Ami's girls, there are only twelve people in total, and they can run away if they want to, and the materials for doing business will be transported away by Eniang at any time. Why did you run so far?

"Cher, are you sure you can trust the two Indian ladies? As soon as we leave the country, we will give their lives to them. It was a completely foreign place, and even though I could attract animals and insects, I didn't know anything else. I asked the people here that it is more than 5,000 miles from Kunming to India, and the mountains are high and dense, and there are all kinds of animals and any unexpected dangers. Don't you just want to buy gems, spices, and fruits? Fruits are available here, spices are also available, and gems are not particularly easy to sell. Please, don't go, okay? I can't really guarantee that anything unexpected will happen in a foreign country. You're so beautiful......"

"I see, thanks for the reminder, let's not go. In fact, Yunnan is really accessible here, people from all countries have it, and all goods are available, even if it is a little more expensive, it is much better than risking to run so far. Really, I just wanted to check it out, and I didn't say I had to go. I understand your heart, so I can't go with the two Indian ladies. ”

The two ladies listened to Xue'er's words, and it was difficult to persuade them. In case something goes wrong in the middle, they can't explain it to the emperor of the Qing Kingdom. These two are princesses and foreheads, not ordinary ordinary people. They just want to introduce Cher to the king and queen, so that they can make progress in trade between the two countries in the future. In fact, the two of them can also achieve the goal.

"It's okay, it's a long way to go, and it's dangerous. Then you are in several places in Yunnan where the population is relatively concentrated and the market trade is more frequent, and we are also stationed in Yunnan for a long time, so we are often in contact with each other about anything. ”

After Cher decided not to go to India, Master came. talked to Bing'er Xue'er once, and said that it was right not to go now. Master said, "It is necessary to make money in business, but you must not form a strong obsession. People in Buddhism must have a stable mentality, and don't fail to let go of anything. The best mindset is to go with the flow, work hard to work hard, and don't predict the results with worldly ideas. The amount of effort you put in will definitely get a great result, and it is not as simple as it seems. Although Master's words were not much, Bing'er Xue'er knew that she was impatient.

After Bing'er and Xue'er bought fruit in Xishuangbanna for a while, they went to Baoshan, another relatively large city in Yunnan. The city, known as Yongchang in ancient times, is about a thousand miles southwest of Kunming. It is rich in small grains of coffee, green broad beans, small mung beans, walnuts, bait, etc., and the fruits are mangoes, lychees, longans, papayas, plums, jackfruits, peaches, pears, apples, persimmons, plums, etc. Apples, plums, peaches and pears don't have to be bought here. The red rich apples grafted by Ama are probably not comparable to the apples of Yunnan, and pears, persimmons, and plums are also produced in the Zhili area, so it is better to carry some Yunnan special fruits.

At that time, the traffic was inconvenient, and many places rich in fruits were difficult to transport to the relatively densely populated Kunming because of the difficult roads, and it was easy to rot if it was not processed in time. So fruits are particularly cheap, and the dried fruit industry is particularly developed. Because fruits are perishable and difficult to transport long distances, it is difficult for northerners to eat fresh southern fruits. At that time, Yang Guifei liked to eat lychees from Lingnan, and Emperor Tang Ming ordered the soldiers to transport lychees from Lingnan to Chang'an non-stop, and many horses were killed. Bing'er and Xue'er's conditions are unique, with the help of Shiziye, Princess Minqi and Xiaoeniang, no matter how large the quantity, they will be transported back through the air. As long as Xiao Eniang thought about it, Bing'er Xue'er's bundled fruit immediately appeared on the platform above the Ming Dynasty prince's mansion. Bing'er Xue'er doesn't buy the same fruit every time, but it is enough for the people in the house to eat, enough to sell the fruit until it does not rot and is made into juice without spoiling. Toss every three or four days, and do it without showing the mountains and water. There are other things to barter, such as lace, cloth, handicrafts for precious stones, spices, herbs, and other supplies, and the day is still very busy.

Because of Bing'er Xue'er's efforts, several stores have been opened here, including a jewelry store, a spice store, a pharmacy and a Nanguo store. I can't refine the spices myself, so I buy some ready-made ones in Yunnan, and then buy some low-cost raw materials and hand them over to the Construction Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Because the preparation of spices is a very complex production process, it requires specialized talents and specialized skills. In fact, the construction department was in charge of repairing houses, and later it was also in charge of making spices. But there are still many people in the capital who can refine spices. It would be easy to "invite" them into the Ministry of Internal Affairs, give them a yard and the necessary equipment. The concubines in the palace and the wives and ladies of large families are good customers who use spices. Moreover, the spices that Bing'er Xue'er bought back are all genuine and good raw materials, and if they are refined and then sold, the price will not rise by one or two times. The refining of medicinal materials is naturally the responsibility of the Tai Hospital, and the Zhu medical officer in the house is responsible for cultivating the live medicinal materials from Yunnan, that is, Bing'er and Xue'er transplant the plant-based medicinal materials into flower pots and transport them back to the house by air, so that many kinds of medicinal materials can take root in the capital. Of course, not every one of them can survive, the climate of the capital belongs to the north, how can it be compared with Yunnan? It is still mainly ready-made and wild. Yunnan is recognized as the "animal and plant kingdom" in the world, and the plant medicinal materials include gastrodia, notoginseng, white medicine, saffron, cordyceps, fritillary, snow lotus, angelica, ginseng, yunmuxiang, notoginseng, yellow essence, dendrobium, sand kernel, coptis, poria cocos, catechu, coptis, banxia, zhuling, longpa, caoguo, polygonum multiflori, gentian, etc. There are also animal-based medicinal herbs bezoar and musk. Bing'er and Xue'er clearly wrote down the medicinal value, usage method, and scope of use of these medicinal materials on paper. Because medicinal herbs are different from other things, they are used to cure diseases. "It's a medicine that is three parts poison", it's not something to be eaten casually.

Bing'er and Xue'er were so busy that they hit the back of their heads. But the news from Xiaoeniang is that these things are very profitable, and she will return the money she earns to them as capital and buy them again.

As mentioned earlier, Yunnan is a "kingdom of animals and plants", not only medicinal plants, but also plants that can refine spices.

The spices mentioned here do not only refer to the food spices used as seasonings in food, such as star anise, fennel, cinnamon, cinnamon branches, sand ginger, nepeta, perilla, mint, angelica, cardamom, cumin and other things, but this kind of spices are also bought because they are cheaper than those in the capital. The spices that Cher wants to buy are those that are burned indoors or applied to the body. Such spices are raw materials made from fragrant bark, resin, wood chips, roots, leaves, flowers and fruits extracted from plants. According to the different raw materials, it can also be divided into sandalwood, agarwood, cloves, tulips, dipterocarp, incense, benzoin and other types. The second is the incense formed by animal secretions, such as ambergris, musk, etc. Most of the spices are produced in the hot climate areas, and the human body in the tropics is prone to body scale and foul odor, so in order to eliminate body odor, the local fragrant wood is made into spices and smeared on the body, such spices are called incense; If it is used to burn spices in the smoked room and clothes, it is called burning incense or incense. The spices used for incense painting include perfume, sesame oil, incense, etc., and the materials used for burning incense include pill incense, loose incense, sperm incense, etc. The incense in Fujin's room is used to light incense.

Plant-based spices are the most widely distributed and abundant, and most of them are collected from flowers, grasses, and trees. For example, roses, jasmine, narcissus, hyacinths, and violets are harvested from flowers; bergamot, lemon, tangerine are harvested from the peel; Camphor, sandalwood, and ashen are harvested from the branches of trees; The borneol is harvested from resin. Cloves, cinnamon, pepper, fennel, etc., are harvested from the bark or fruits, seeds. There are four main types of animal spices: musk, civet, beaver, and ambergris. It is mostly produced in Yunnan, Myanmar, North America, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Among them, sandalwood, sandalwood, musk, agarwood, ambergris, dipterocarp, and incense are more precious. Many spices are used in religious ceremonies.

Ambergris is the secretion of sperm whales, which emits a strange fragrance when heated, and is an extremely precious spice in the preparation of incense. Spices with ambergris added can make the cigarette condense without drifting away when burned.

In the capital, the ladies of large families or official eunuchs are particularly fond of spices produced in the south. However, the above spices are all raw materials, which must be processed and modulated before they can be used, so the price is very expensive. If you can buy raw materials and sell them to perfumers, it will be a very profitable business. Although Xue'er is young, she lives at the highest level of society, and even in the half year she has lived in the palace, she has also known about the use of spices by some concubines. Now in Yunnan, in the place where spices are produced, the price is definitely much lower than in Beijing. Of course, they didn't know that Ama and Eniang had already handed over the matter of refining spices to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

When Cher and the little sisters of the Renyi class were trading in the market, they asked the locals how to distinguish the authenticity of spices and how to prepare them. The goods that Xue'er brought from the capital were as valuable in the eyes of the spice merchants as Xue'er was in the eyes of spices. Whether it is a subject of the Qing Dynasty or a foreign merchant, who has ever seen high-purity glassware? Who has ever seen a resin ornament that resembles the real thing? Who has ever seen imitation jade cabbage, Arowana, Pixiu, Qilin, Guan Gong and Marshal Zhao Gong carved with an engraving machine?

A few blonde Westerners appeared in front of the counter, muttering about something. Not to mention, some of them really speak Chinese well.

"Hey! What are you getting this jar for? ”

"How do you speak? What's feeding, feeding? Impolite. This thing is not a jar, it is a tea bottle, which is used to make tea. Have you ever seen glass so pure? For what? Change gems, spices, and herbs. Qing'er is very polite.

"This thing doesn't seem to be sturdy, huh? Can we throw it on the ground and try it to see if it breaks? ”

"If you dare to move it, I'll make your claws unable to hold things in the future." Qing'er came over and grabbed a furry paw. This is a well-built Westerner, probably in his thirties. His hand was just about to grab the handle of the glass tea bottle when Qing'er grabbed it. "Wow! Pretty black girl! Much more beautiful than those women from Africa! Holding me so affectionately, it must be ...... Oops my mommy, daddy! This person's ear was pulled by Qing'er and pulled out of the door.