On the fifteenth day of the first month of the first month of the fourth year of Jiading in the Great Song Dynasty (1211), Shaoxing Mansion was crowded with people and was extremely lively.

At this time, it has been nearly a hundred years since Gaozong's southern crossing, although there have been a series of wars such as the southern invasion of King Jin Hailing, the northern expedition of Song Longxing, the northern expedition of Song Kaixi, and the southern invasion of Jin Xuanzong, but in general, the world is peaceful, the population breeds, and the number of households has increased by more than one percent compared with the time of Gaozong's southern crossing, especially the two roads of the east and west of Zhejiang, which are in the place where they are, the people are like weaving, the people are rich and rich, and it is really a prosperous place.

Because it is the Yuan Xi Festival (Note 1), the flow of people in Shaoxing Fucheng is even more crowded. At this time of year, a "lamp market" will be formed in front of the Kaiyuan Temple in Shaoxing Prefecture, although it is called "lamp market", in addition to the lamps that every household has to put on the night of the New Year's Eve, the special products of more than ten state capitals nearby, and even the treasures from overseas, will gather here, as contained in the historical books: "Jade silk, pearl rhinoceros, famous incense, rare medicine, weaving and embroidery, the vessel of the vine, the mountain cumulus committee, dazzling people's eyes; Law books, famous paintings, bells, Yi vessels, good play, and strange things are also out of place. ”

"The Southern Dynasty is so prosperous, no wonder King Hailing has the heart of throwing a whip to cut off the tide of the sea for a song." (Note 2) Hirohiko Shima shook his horsewhip and sighed softly.

The surname Shima Guangyan was originally the surname of the Khitan Hou clan, and the Han people called it the surname "Xiao". The Shima Guangyan family is the declining Liao nobles, they entered the land of Youyan very early, and after more than 100 years of life, they moved to Weizhou (now Weifang, Shandong). Now the Shimo family has long since lost its original glory, although the national feud with Dajin has disappeared with the passage of time, but Shima Guangyan's branch has never been out of office, so although he has studied, he has not participated in the imperial examination of Dajin, but between Dajin and the Song Dynasty, doing the work that Tao Zhugong once did.

"Dongjia, the snacks of the Southern Dynasty are very famous, you see, there is crystal tart, although the crystal tartle of Shaoxing is not as good as Lin'an, but it is also excellent." Seeing that Shi Mo Guangyan was thoughtful, the shopkeeper who accompanied him said earnestly: "There are also crispy abalone snails, which are rare in our northern country, do you want to try them?" ”

The so-called crystal jelly, in fact, is fish jelly, but the production process is much more delicate, and the crispy abalone snail is unheard of by Shi Mo Guangyan, listening to the shopkeeper's earnest recommendation, Shi Mo Guangyan couldn't help but move his index finger: "What is the price of these snacks?" ”

"Cheap." The shopkeeper stretched out his voice and said, "But the price of one or two Wenwen is enough for a few of us to eat." ”

"It's really cheap!" Shi Mo Guangyan was taken aback, the purpose of his coming south this time was not only to open up the market, but also to plan for the future of the Shi Mo family, so he urgently needed to understand the situation of the Southern Dynasty. As a businessman, the market price of the Southern Dynasty was also an important part of his attention. As far as he knew, at this time, the people of the lower classes of the Southern Dynasty spent about 30 wen per person per day (Note 3), and renting a cow cost about 42 wen a day, which could buy enough snacks for four or five people, which not only proved that the prices of the Southern Dynasty were cheap, but also proved the stability of the Southern Dynasty.

Compared with the turbulent northern country, this southern dynasty is really "when will the West Lake sing and dance".

Everyone was used to rushing, so they tasted the extremely delicious crystal snails at the stall selling snacks, wrapped some crispy abalone snails, and continued to walk around the lamp market while walking.

As the sky grew noon, there were more pedestrians on the street, the cries of small traders and vendors, the counteroffers of customers and pedestrians, and the sound of firecrackers sounding from time to time. Shima Hirohiko couldn't help but be contaminated by the joy of the people around him, and the worry on his brow was thrown away, and a smile appeared on his face.

The shopkeeper saw him smile, and his mood was slightly better, he had been in the south for a long time, and he had little dealings with this young owner, I don't know why he was always worried, as far as he knew, although the business of the Shi Mo family was nothing in the Liangzhejiang Road full of wealthy merchants, but the accounts were still quite generous. This is also the reason why Shi Mo Guangyan can't nourish his qi, so he can see it.

"This Jiangnan is really a prosperous place in the hometown of Taiping!" Shi Mo Guangyan said loudly to the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper Zheng has worked really hard in Jiangnan all these years!" ”

"That's the old club's promotion, otherwise the villain would have become hungry a long time ago." The shopkeeper said with a smile.

Over the years, the Great Song Dynasty in the south has generally been peaceful, especially in the area of Liangzhejiang Road, which has not been disturbed by the Northern Dynasties and has not been affected by floods and droughts. However, this is not the case with Dajin in the Central Plains, the Mongol Khan Temujin, who rose in the Qiannan River outside, has unified the Mongolian tribes and is constantly invading the Dajin frontier. In the inner Central Plains in the past two years, disasters have continued, and today's Dajin Tianzi is Wanyan Yongji (King Wei Shao), who has been on the throne for three years, and his people are cowardly, young, intellectual, and incompetent. Under the internal and external troubles, the Shi Mo family, who had already experienced the pain of losing the country once, was really not optimistic about the future of Daikin, which was also the fundamental reason why Shi Mo Hirohiko went south this time.

"Father intends to ......" glanced at the shopkeeper Zheng, Shi Mo Guangyan hesitated and was about to speak, but was interrupted by a huge voice in the middle of his words.

Although the light market was originally full of people, this sudden sound was like a muffled thunder in the sky, which startled Shi Mo Hirohiko. He followed the prestige, and saw a crowd of people rushing to the side of the street in a frenzy, everyone shouting as if they were rushing to buy something.

"Why is that?" Shi Mo Guangyan took back the words that came to his lips and asked the shopkeeper Zheng.

"Strange......" Shopkeeper Zheng was also puzzled, the lantern market in Yuanxi of Shaoxing Mansion is extremely famous, and the overseas treasures of strange things from the north and south are gathered here, and the people here are used to seeing it, what can attract them so much? Seeing that there was little to ask, the shopkeeper Zheng asked a guy to come forward to investigate. The guy was strong, but he squeezed into the crowd for a long time, and after a long time, he grabbed a small paper bag and carefully squeezed it out.

"What's going on?" Shopkeeper Zheng asked.

"Frosty Sugar...... No, it's Snow Sugar! The guy was panting and handed over the small paper bag in his hand.

Shopkeeper Zheng took the paper bag and opened it, and inside was a small packet of crystal clear fine sand-like things.

"What is there to grab from Frosting?" He asked in surprise, but denied it: "No, no, how can frost sugar be so white?" ”

The art of sugar making in Shenzhou has a very long history, Qu Yuan in the poem "The Conjuring" has the liquid sugar of "Zhe syrup", and in the Han Dynasty, there is the solid sugar of "stone honey" (Note 4), Tang Taizong even sent people to Tianzhu to learn the method of boiling sugar, and in the early Tang Dynasty, there was sand sugar, that is, the frosted sugar in the mouth of the guy and Zheng shopkeeper. It's just that the frosting sugar is not only darker than the sugar in front of you, but the particles are much smaller, far less beautiful than this sugar.

Shopkeeper Zheng dipped two grains and put them in his mouth, and a trace of sweetness came from the tip of his tongue, which made him exclaim: "It's really sugary!" ”

Shima Guangyan also stretched out his head to look at the "snow sugar" on the paper, only to see that its particles were crystal clear, silver and white as snow, with almost no impurities, and when it was close, he could smell a sweet fragrance. He also twisted a small pinch and put it in his mouth, and the sugar melted in his mouth, and the sweetness was so strong that he had never tasted it.

"Where did this snow candy come from?" Shopkeeper Zheng frowned: "The villain has been in Lin'an and Shaoxing for more than ten years, but I have never seen such good sugar sold!" ”

"The villain inquired, and I heard that it was sold by a foreign maritime merchant to this family." The guy was extremely shrewd, and when he heard Shopkeeper Zheng ask, he immediately replied.

"It's no wonder, there are so many rare overseas, there are such good sugar ......" Shopkeeper Zheng nodded when he heard this: "It's just that I've always heard that maritime merchants sell sugar in Quanzhou to sell overseas, but I didn't think that there is better sugar overseas than Da Song now." ”

Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Fujian has planted a large number of sugarcane, the local people boil sugar in this way, the maritime merchants of the Great Song Dynasty will traffic it out of the sea, which has a lot of profits, Zheng shopkeeper has lived in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, and he is very attentive on weekdays, so he has heard of it.

"How is this snow candy sold?" Hirohiko Ishima asked.

"Ten wen and one penny (Note 5), always five hundred wen and one catty."

"It's so expensive!" Shi Mo Guangyan exclaimed, ten cents and one penny, which means that all the living expenses of a person every day are spent, and they cannot be exchanged for half a tael of snow sugar. At this time, the entire wealth of a medium-sized family was only 3,000 to 10,000. (Note 6)

"Now it's New Year's Day, the people of Jiangnan like sweets, and sugar is not allowed in the Lantern Festival." Shopkeeper Zheng shook his head: "It's ordinary sugar, and it also needs two articles, not to mention this snow sugar!" (Note 7)

"How much snow candy does he have?" Hirohiko Ishima asked again.

"The man brought two carts with a wheelbarrow, saying that it was 400 pounds." The man said, "He came at the beginning of the 12th Lantern Market of the first month, and he is 400 catties a day. ”

"Two thousand four hundred guan ......" Shi Mo Guangyan and Zheng shopkeeper did not need to calculate carefully, they roughly calculated the sales of this person, for a merchant family like Shi Mo Guangyan, two thousand four hundred guan is not a big number, but in just four days there is such money in and out, he is still surprised.

"If you sell this snow candy to the central capital, it will be sold for twenty yuan and one dollar, and those princes and nobles will not be stingy!" Shopkeeper Zheng looked at Shi Mo Guangyan, his eyes sparkled, although the northerners do not love sugar as much as the southerners, but the luxury is no less than Lin'an, twenty dollars of snow candy, sold to Zhongdu (now Beijing), the profit is more than doubled!

"I heard from the candy seller that they don't have much inventory, only selling 400 catties a day, no more, no less." The guy said again.

"It's a pity, it's a pity, I don't know when the maritime merchant who sells snow candy will ......come again," shopkeeper Zheng sighed.

Shi Mo Guangyan frowned, the business of selling snow candy was dispensable to him, but the man's method of selling only four hundred catties a day made him incomprehensible. Merchants sell, but I am afraid that there are not many goods sold, how can there be restrictions on their shipments!

"Why did the young owner stay?" After sighing a few times, Shopkeeper Zheng was about to move forward, but when he saw Shi Mo Guangyan standing in place thoughtfully, he asked out loud.

"This candy seller is interesting...... Ishima Hirohiko looked around, happened to see a tea shop, and said to the guy: "We are waiting in the tea shop, you keep an eye on the sugar seller, and when he is free, invite him for a while." ”

They waited in the tea shop for half an hour, and then the man led two men in, and Shi Ma Hirohiko glanced at them, although he was not very old, his vision was very accurate, and he saw that the appearance of these two men did not look like merchants.

"Two uncles and brothers, please take a seat."

The eldest of the two was about fifty years old, and the younger one was also thirty, and they looked a little similar, so they thought that they should be father and son, so Ishima Hirohiko first signaled to the older man, invited them to sit down, and then beckoned Dr. Tea to bring hot tea.

"In Shimoshi Mo Guangyan, haven't you asked your uncle for his name?" After taking his seat, Shi Mo Hirohiko said.

"The old man's surname is Zhao, and his single name is a happy word, this is the dog Zhao Yong, and the official is a Khitan?"

"Uncle is well-informed, but now there are no Khitans, I can only speak Chinese, but I don't know any Khitan dialect." Shima Guangyan said with a smile, in fact, deep in his heart, he has never regarded himself as a Khitan, speaking Chinese and wearing Hanfu with Chinese characters, he has long thought that he is a Han.

"Thank you for your hospitality." The two of them were also not formal, especially the elder Zhao Xi, who seemed to be quite knowledgeable in his gestures, they tasted two pieces of refreshment, and then the elder asked, "I don't know what the official invited us to do?" ”

"The younger generation has something unclear and wants to ask the uncle for advice, but I don't know why the uncle only sells 400 catties of sugar every day?" Seeing that he was speaking straightforwardly, Shi Ma Guangyan also asked bluntly.

"This ......" Hearing him ask about this, Zhao Xi and Zhao Yong glanced at each other, both of them showed strange expressions on their faces, Zhao Yong scratched his head, as if he wanted to speak, but Zhao Xi rushed before him and said: "Don't hide it, this is the guidance of the maritime merchant who entrusted us to sell sugar." ”

"Oh?" Shi Mo Guangyan twisted his mustache and asked puzzledly, "Please also ask the uncle to teach me." ”

"The maritime merchant said that if there are more things, the price is cheap, and if there are few things, the price is expensive." Zhao Xi smiled slightly: "What's more, if I wait for more snow sugar to be sold at one time, the rest of the sugar sold in this city will have no business, and offending my peers will cause trouble." ”

Shi Mo Guangyan nodded again and again after hearing this: "This maritime merchant is really a master, I don't know if the uncle can introduce him?" ”

"You are so rude!" Zhao Yong, who had been silent, suddenly lost his temper and said, "That maritime merchant is also what you can see?" ”

Shi Mo Guangyan felt speechless before he spoke, the other party made a profit by selling snow candy, and he went to ask him to introduce snow candy to where it came from, wouldn't he want to dig people into the corner! Therefore, although Zhao Yong scolded him, he was not annoyed, but just got up and apologized: "I lost my words, and I hope that the two of you will forgive your sins, and you are willing to receive this snow grain from the virtuous father and son at a price of two per catty, the amount is not limited, I don't know what the two of you want?" ”

"Two pounds per pound?" Zhao Xi and Zhao Yong exchanged another look, two pounds per catty, and the four hundred catties they sold a day could be sold for eight hundred yuan, which was two hundred more than now, and they also had to save the fatigue of selling along the street!

"How can there be such a good thing, the officials must be making fun of my father and son." Zhao Xi said tentatively.

"There is only one condition below, please rest assured that the virtuous father and son will never introduce the maritime merchant." Shima Hirohiko said with a grin.

Note 1, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was called Yuan Xi in the Song Dynasty, that is, today's Lantern Festival.

Note 2, King Hailing is the Emperor of the Jin Waste, it is said that after he heard someone sing Liu Yong's words "Looking at the Sea Tide • Southeast Shape Victory", he started to invade the south.

Note 3, "Investigation of Song People's Living Standards and Currency Value", Cheng Minsheng Historical Monthly, No. 3, 2008

Note 4, in Baidu search of ancient Chinese sugar technology, it can be seen that Liu Xin's "Xijing Miscellaneous Records" once described "the king of Minyue presented the high emperor stone honey five Hu", Zhang Heng wrote "Seven Distinctions", which has the title of "sand and stone honey".

Note 5, in the Song Dynasty, one catty was about 0.598 kilograms today, one tael was one-sixteenth of a catty, and one coin was one-tenth of a tael.

Note 6, "Investigation of the Living Standards and Currency Value of the Song People", Cheng Minsheng Historical Monthly, No. 3, 2008

Note 7, this is the price of the author's guess, the price of sugar in the Song Dynasty has been difficult to examine, the author can find the materials contained: in the late Northern Song Dynasty in Suzhou, 1 piece of sugar (i.e., sugar) can be sold for 1 Wen, and Lu You also used 1 Wen to buy a piece of starch sugar called "Lingyu".