Jacob was a merchant from Ancona, Italy, and for more than forty years, he was still engaged in ocean commerce with great interest. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Because it was a very lucrative business, and only in this way could you get a large amount of cloth, silk, pepper, spices, pearls, and all sorts of other rare goods of great value.

He set out from Ancona with a large amount of velvet cloth and wool and gold and silver thread. I heard that in the Great Song Dynasty, people will pay a lot of money for it.

He took with him two faithful messengers, Pietro and Simon, the cooks Pector and Rustici, and their deputy, Berletto, and two servants to help wash the clothes, the women Bertoni and Miss Bukazoup.

He also hired the navigator Yato, who was responsible for navigating according to the nautical charts.

After he set out, he sailed in the direction of east-northeast, and then bought a large number of high-quality muslin quilts at the markets of Karpazo and Rodi Island, because the Great Song Dynasty needed such things very much in winter, and I heard that they would pay a high price for muslin.

Three months and 15 days after leaving Ancona, they arrived in the Iraqi city of Basra.

Basra is a large city that is situated at the confluence of several large rivers.

Merchants can earn large sums of money in this city.

These merchants came from all over the world, from ******, Great India, Little India, and even from the Great Song Dynasty. The city had a trading port at the mouth of the sea, called Saraki.

Here, large ships from the Great Song Dynasty are unloaded and loaded, and you can find rich silk and golden brocade with patterns of lions, bears, and other animals embroidered with gold thread, and the craftsmanship is excellent.

In Basra, he hired another Arab sea-going ship.

The ship had a large capacity, carrying 5,000 stone of cargo and 400 people. Among them, 300 people were able to pull the sails and pull the canopy and swing the oars when the wind was too light to sail during the voyage.

There are 4 masts, 12 sails on the sea ship, and two more masts, which are fixed there. There are also 30 cabins on board, each equipped with a lock and a key. There are 6 small boats on the outside of the big boat.

There were 3 helmsmen on the big boat, all of whom were Basra.

They had charts of the Indian Sea and the Southern Sea of the Great Song Dynasty made by the Arabs, and a Great Song compass, which was extremely elaborately made, and these seafarers valued this compass very much.

At the same time, he was equipped with two ships with galleys, each with a crew of 90 people, in order to carry certain selected cargoes if necessary. The ship also carries weapons, ready to help in case of danger.

They departed from Basra and arrived in Komsa. There are many traders from Chesmakolano, Great India and Great Song who come to buy items such as pearls, horses, precious stones and fruits.

Jacob bought a lot of fine incense to sell to the idolaters of Great India and the Great Song Dynasty, who were willing to buy these incense, especially Dafaro's frankincense, which they loved the most.

Soon after, they went to Gazurat, another famous port on the coast of the Indian Ocean.

There are still many merchants from other countries, as people can buy a lot of good quality cloth from here.

He also purchased some high-quality cotton cloth and dyed cloth that was expensive in the Great Song Dynasty. Their pattern designs are all strange and beautiful.

Also bought a lot of pepper and good quality Kustu frankincense to be brought to the Great Song, as well as indigo dye, red jina red rosewood. and a canta's merobalan, a fruit, like a plum, which can be dried to be used as a medicine to treat gastrointestinal ailments, and can also be used as a dye. I heard that in the Great Song Dynasty, it is also a valuable item.

He went on to buy ivory, beautiful coral, and other things that seasoned merchants could use to make a fortune.

Especially the pepper, both black and white, is also very varied, because pepper is as expensive in the Great Song as it is in Anco in Italy. So before he plans to return to his hometown, he also has to buy a lot of them.

I also bought sandalwood, aloe vera, and other fragrant tree roots, and bought some camphor, which the people of the Great Song Dynasty liked.

Jacob inquired about it, and the nobles and wealthy merchants of the Great Song Dynasty valued the sweet taste of the trees, especially sandalwood and aloe vera, and they used them on the pillars of their houses as well as on the gates.

You can get a lot of money from trafficking these things.

So he bought a large number of perfumes squeezed from the trees and leaves, as well as intricately carved ivory combs.

It is said that the aristocratic women of the Great Song Dynasty often used perfume, put it in a silk bag, tied it around their waist with a strap, and put many ivory combs in their hair.

When they left India, they went through many hardships and finally came to a place called Lambri in Little Java, where they renovated their ship.

In Sumatra, he then bought 150 stone of camphor, as well as 1 stone of nutmeg, long eggplant and nutmeg, 5 stone of cloves, and 5 stone of cardamom.

With God's blessing, Jacob arrived in the city of Thornton.

He brought ashore with his servants a shipload of pepper, aloe vera, sandalwood, camphor, selected perfumes, precious jade jewels, dates, clothing, and other goods.

The city is called the City of Light because there are so many oil lamps and torches in the streets, and at night the city is particularly brightly illuminated and can be seen from afar.

It is located at the mouth of the Jin/Jiang River, and the islands opposite are Brother Island and Brother Island.

Jacob brought many jewels from India and its islands to the city of Thornton, and at first he was afraid that his belongings would be coveted and that his money would be robbed before he could earn it back after much hard work, but after his visit to the Buddha, Pu Shou Geng, he gave Jacob many honors and praises, and assured him that he would not be harmed.

On the banks of the embankment were large warehouses with iron gates, which merchants from India and elsewhere used to ensure the safety of their goods.

But the largest of these was the warehouse of the Hui merchants and Jewish merchants in ******, like a monastery, in which the merchants could hide their goods, both those they wanted to sell and those they bought.

Pu Shou Gengfan said that pepper and spices should be sold directly to the city envoy, and the others could be bought and sold freely, and the envoy of the Great Song Dynasty city would give a fairly fair price.

Jacob was amazed to find that he knew the price of the pepper and spices he bought.

As a result, he did get a fair price...... He had a large amount of money in his hand, and he could buy fine porcelain and fine silk.

However, he and his servants decided to take a good rest, and this voyage was too tiring, and this rest was more than half a year.

At this time, he discovered many new goods!

What surprised him the most was that it was called flower water, which was also a perfume, but it was far more fragrant than the perfume he brought.

Therefore, he decided to go to the place where it was produced to see, and after the experience of the suffering of the voyage, where would he still be afraid of hardship. (To be continued.) )