Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Xiao Xun, it’s our turn.” Yan Qixun, who was in a daze, was woken up by Gongyu Hao.
She followed behind Zuo Guanglu and Gongyu Hao and paid the city entrance fee. Only after passing the twenty-meter city gate did she enter the city. Yan Qixun sighed. The city entrance fee of one tael for each person was not expensive, and it was cheaper than expected. The donkey cart cost two taels, and the city entrance tax for goods was estimated to be less than fifty taels. She was just saying that the entrance fee was cheap.
Zuo Guanglu shook his head and said, “Although entrance fee for each person is not expensive, our county is a major transportation route. The merchants from the north and south must pass through it. Countless people and goods are going in and out every day. This city entrance fee is also the main source of tax revenue for our county. Don’t underestimate it.”
Yan Qixun thought about it and agreed. They had come early, so many people were leaving the city, but not many people were entering the city. It was a different scene in the city.
There was a 10-meter wide flagstone path along the inner wall. This should be the emergency road for transporting supplies and war chariots during wartime, so no one was walking on it. There was a 5-meter wide inner-city river in the stone path, and the buildings in the city were on the other side of the river.
After the city gate path and the 10-meter stone path, they stepped on the stone bridge, and after the stone bridge, they reached the main street of the inner city. The four main roads of the inner city, east, west, south, and north intersected at the city’s center. The entire city was shaped like a field. The most central location was the office area of the county office and the various administrative departments of the city.
The four main roads of the east, west, south, and north were all business streets. The three-story shops on the street were lined up one after another. The street was as wide as ten meters. Therefore, although there were many people, it did not seem crowded. All the carriages drove in an orderly manner.
Because they were afraid of running into people, the three of them did not ride on the donkey cart. After Zuo Guanglu entered the city, he held on to the donkey cart. Gongyu Hao was instructed by his beautiful mother to take care of his sister, who was restless and scared that she would be kidnapped. After entering the city, he held Yan Qixun’s hand.
Yan Qixun looked at the orderly street. There were all kinds of shops on the street, and there were all kinds of banners hanging in front of the shops. Listening to the sales calls, she was in high spirits. This was much more lively than what she had seen on TV and in movies. As it was still early in the morning, the city was bustling with life.
They entered the city through the central north gate. Fifth Uncle’s family lived in the southeast district of the county. Hence, they had to pass through the Central District’s county office and walk further south. They would only arrive there when they walked to the southeast district. Therefore, the three of them discussed it and decided to sell it before going to Fifth Uncle’s house.
Zuo Guanglu often came to the city to sell his prey, so he naturally had regular customers. The three first gave a large restaurant two tiger meat, two deer meat, four dog badger meat, twenty chickens, and more than ten rabbits.
Although the deer meat was good, it was not very rare. Although the tiger meat might not be as delicious as the deer meat, it was expensive and rare. One might not even get it once a year, not to mention this time they got two tigers. After handling the meat, more than 400 katis, the manager of the large restaurant, was so happy that his face looked like it was covered in flowers.
By right, the least valuable part of a tiger’s body was the meat. Zuo Guanglu had initially thought that the meat of two tigers would at most be sold for 50 taels of silver. The manager waved his hand and gave 60 taels of silver in the end. The two deer meat was also given 15 taels of silver. The price of this deer meat could be considered to be high.
There were six badgers, one was to be given to the fifth uncle’s family, and one was to be given to the great grandfather. They kept one for their own. In the end, they sold three dog badgers. Although it was not much, the meat was delicious. A piece of badger was worth one tael of silver.
As for the twenty chickens and ten rabbits, the restaurant was not short of chickens and rabbits. If it were not for the tiger and deer, they would not have accepted it. However, the price was very reasonable, one tael of silver each.
Zuo Guanglu took his portion of sixteen taels of silver. Gongyu Hao also put the sixty-three taels of silver from the tiger and badger meat into his bag and bade farewell to the shopkeeper.
The head shopkeeper felt extremely regretful. Why was there no tiger skin or bones? There was no antler, deer fetus, or deer penis. This deer meat was the meat of a male deer, and the glands that made musk deer were not sold. Maybe they had kept it for themselves somewhere.
He was still thinking that Hunter Zuo was skillful now. He had only sold deer in the past, but he had never had a tiger before. He pointed out that if they had something rare, he would continue to sell it to him in the future. Hence, the head shopkeeper did not hesitate to give him a reasonable price.
Furthermore, before he left, he was still urging, “Hunter Zuo, in the future, if you have something good, you must remember of me. Price is not a problem. As long as it is something rare, I will give you the best price in the entire city.”
Zuo Guanglu smiled and agreed. After thanking the shopkeeper, he left.
The sale of the prey went smoothly. It did not take long before the three of them planned to sell the medicinal herbs again.
Zuo Guanglu was quite familiar with the medicinal herbs shop and the medical center because his father took medicine all year round. He also knew which medical center had a good reputation. He found a highly reputable medical center and asked the medicine boy to help look after the donkey cart for a while. Then, he brought Gongyu Hao and Yan Qixun into the medical center.
Zuo Guanglu still looked at them as children, so he found the center manager. He took out the basket of medicinal herbs that had been sorted out and asked, “Please take a look at how much these medicinal herbs can be sold. These herbs are well-sorted and processed. If the price is suitable, I will continue to sell them to you in the future.”
The shopkeeper was rather attentive. He carefully looked at every medicinal herb and could not help but praise in his heart. Medicinal herbs were not like other commodities. The quality of the medicinal herbs can directly affect the medicinal effects. It was a need to be cautious.
The medicinal herbs this shop handled were excellent. The best medicinal herbs handled by the best physicians in their medical center were average.
Good medicinal herbs were hard to find. The preservation of their medicinal properties was a top priority compared to the price. Pharmacies were usually quite cautious in bringing in medicinal herbs, and they usually took stocks from the usual merchant. Suppose it was locally produced, primarily prepared on their own. Other than that, they mostly wouldn’t take up medicinal herbs from outside to ensure the effectiveness of the prescription.
At first, he did not take this young man’s medicinal herbs seriously. However, from its looks, these medicinal herbs could be considered top-quality. They were scarce. Moreover, these medicinal herbs were not ordinary varieties, and they were all considered rare. They probably picked these from the mountains.
The shopkeeper was satisfied. He did not lower the price. “These medicinal herbs are of excellent quality. The varieties are also considered rare. I will give you a fair price. I will accept this basket of medicinal herbs and give you a total of fifteen taels of silver. If there are medicinal herbs of such quality in the future, we will also accept them here. You can ask around in town, and no one would offer a higher price than this.”
“I will tell you the truth. This medicinal herb of yours should be a wild medicinal herb picked from the deep mountains. It is well-prepared and has a better medicinal effect than the same medicinal herb I bought from the medicine merchants. Otherwise, I would not be able to offer such a high price.”
Zuo Guanglu looked at Gongyu Hao. Gongyu Hao had fiery eyes, so he knew that the shopkeeper was not lying, so he nodded. After taking fifteen taels of silver, Gongyu Hao continued to fill his saddlebags.
Yan Qixun then asked the shopkeeper, “Our family has generations of physicians. Grandfather was an imperial physician, and there is a medical book passed down from our ancestors. It can be considered a rare book. Do you want to buy it?” The shopkeeper was in quite a shock hearing what she said..