Spring and Autumn I Am King

The lacquer pottery market, that is, the place where lacquerware and pottery are made and sold, is divided into two parts: the lacquer market and the pottery market by a wall.

Lacquer ware is often painted (xiu) in two colors of red and black. It is graceful and elegant. It is very popular in the circle of nobles and big businessmen. Le Fuli thought that Zhao Wuxi was going to the lacquer market and picked out some precious lacquer ware belts. Back to the territory, who wants to go to Tao City without a shirt.

He was even more puzzled by this.

Pottery is an utensil made of clay. As the saying goes, "Pottery must be good, and fire must be good." The pottery market is a handicraft area that integrates production and trade.

The number of people in Xinjiangtao City is smaller than that of other cities. First, because it is getting closer and closer to darkness at this time, many merchants are ready to close their stalls. Second, because most of them only do bulk trade, few are sold individually to the people. woman's.

Although Le Fuli was very familiar with Xinjiang, he didn't come here very often, and he didn't know how to take Zhao Wuxi there for a while.

In the end, it was Zhao Guangde who stopped by the road and stopped a pedestrian who was squatting at the stall to bargain: "Jia Meng, why are you here?"

That Jia Meng had a white face and a short beard, wrapped in soapy clothes, but wearing tattoos and embroidery on the inside, he walked over, got down in front of the car and bowed his head and said: "I have seen a gentleman, the villain is fortunate, I never thought that I could see a gentleman here, how many The sun is gone, but the gentleman has reduced a bit." Then he wiped away tears, and at first glance he looked like a slippery person.

Jia (gu) is not a clan, but the industry he is engaged in, which means the same as business. It turned out that the man named Jia Meng was a businessman from Wendi. He ate from Dr. Wen Zhao Luo, which is equivalent to a distributor of Wendi trading. When Zhao Guangde came to Xinjiang a few days ago, he followed the line. in the fleet.

In the late Spring and Autumn Period, several independent giants appeared among the feudal lords. On the other hand, the small merchants and Baigong in the Zhengwei area adopted a strategy of grouping together and established commercial houses and craftsmen shops that shared risks and benefits. Although the organization was loose, their strength should not be underestimated.

Decades ago, under the instigation of the nobles, the merchants and Baigong in the capital city of the Wei Kingdom launched a riot to expel the tyrannical and ruthless King Wei Xiangong, and they even succeeded.

However, the state of Jin did not have such a relaxed and developed business atmosphere, so there were more officials and businessmen like Jiameng who "eat in the government" and do business with the thighs of public officials and doctors. Although the actual status is equivalent to that of a slave, and personal freedom is restricted, "the son of a merchant is always a merchant, and the son of a worker is always a worker", and most of the coins and silks earned are squeezed, but they can be connected with various relationships with less risk. .

The reason why Jia Meng is in the pottery market is because he bought a lot of millet wine from Xinjiang to be transported to Wendi, and he needs to buy a lot of pottery pots to hold it.

He was also peeking at Zhao Wuxi, who was in the same car with Zhao Guangde, and Le Fuli, who was raising his chin. He saw that they were dressed like the sons of Qingzi and doctors. It seems that the gentleman from home made friends very quickly after he came to Xinjiang, which is a good thing.

So, Zhao Guangde asked Jia Meng to take a few of them on a tour of Tao City. Jia Meng wanted to please the sons of the three officials, and naturally agreed happily.

Zhao Wuxi knew that in this new Jiangcheng, there were also many traders who depended on the Zhao family, but the bulk trade controlled by the Zhao family was mainly concentrated in the cattle and horse market, while the pottery industry was not involved too much. Even the trade of cattle and horses has not reached the level of monopoly. The Bank of China has always been Zhao's biggest competitor.

Jinyang, a large northern county of the Zhao family, has a geographical advantage and can trade with Rongdi and buy good horses, cattle and sheep from Daidi and Hetao. And the Zhonghang clan is not bad. Because their territory "Dongyang Land" is close to Xianyu Zhongshan, they can extort many Baidi people's leather, as well as dogs and horses every year.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing the whole family. Therefore, the current relationship between the two families is not just as simple as political conflicts, but also extremely complicated disputes of interests.

Under the leadership of Jia Meng, the group turned around Tao City. There are black pottery in the east of Taihang, painted pottery in Hexi, white pottery in Nanyang, and even Jomon pottery in the land of Haidai. But he had seen eggshell pottery as thin as silk in the lower palace, and also made locally in Chengyi, but the rough-textured clay pottery was nowhere to be seen.

Jia Meng explained Wu Xie's confusion one by one. It turned out that there was a particular point in it: "Anything about pottery and pottery, buns and reclamations are not allowed to enter the market." That is to say, pottery that is too thin or of poor quality is not allowed to enter the Xinjiang market.

It can be seen that the pottery here is mainly used by the middle class, that is, the daily use of scholars and Chinese, as well as liquid goods such as wine, oil, vinegar, sauce, honey and other liquid goods packed by merchants. Pottery is a large-scale trade. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the main utensils for people's life are almost all made of pottery. Everyone needs it, but it is not very popular among the upper aristocrats.

The feudal lords and high officials valued bronze utensils, while the wealthy merchants were restricted by the ritual system and could not publicly own too many bronze utensils, so they used lacquer utensils instead. In fact, its value is not lower than that of bronze wares. Judging from Zhao Wuxi's aesthetic view, it is more exquisite and gorgeous.

Therefore, pottery has not entered the high-end luxury industry, and it is still a simple civilian object. This upper-level market is almost empty. After Zhao Wuxi's on-the-spot inspection, he knew it in his heart and felt that his plan was more and more sure to make a fortune.

The handicraft workshop area behind is guarded by servants with swords and cannot enter, perhaps because of the confidentiality of the craftsmanship? Although Zhao Wuxie's identity as Qingzi could completely break in by force, it was not necessary.

According to Jia Meng, "the craftsmanship", that is, the craftsmen who knead the pottery embryos with clay, can be roughly divided into two types of work: one is the potter, who makes pottery such as yan, basin, 甑, 粲, 庾 and so on; The second is the fang (fang) person, who makes gui (gui), beans and other utensils.

Looking at it all the way, Zhao Wuxi had a clue in his heart, and he asked: "Jia Meng, do you know where to find a craftsman who is good at pottery? It is best to be a single family, not attached to the government or the big family. "

In the shirtless plan, the craftsmanship of the future industry also needs to be kept secret, at least in the short term, so he needs potters with no complicated background.

Le Fuli and Zhao Guangde looked at each other after hearing the words~www.wuxiahere.com~ I wonder why Zhao Wuxi wanted to find a potter, is it to make some utensils to play with? I can't see that this Qingzi still has such a taste.

Jia Meng also had this doubt. He asked cautiously, "How many people does a gentleman need?"

Zhao Wuxi weighed the few silk silks left in his treasury, as well as the few golden scorpions hidden in the house. He thought it was only enough to recruit seven or eight senior potters, but it was enough.

"No more than ten people."

Jia Meng smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, gentlemen, let alone ten people, even two or three people, I'm afraid they won't be able to find them now!"

"It's so exaggerated? You can't find a few skilled potters for such a big new pot?"

"There are potters, but there are not many with exquisite craftsmanship, and those who are freelancers are even more extinct."

After Jia Mengyi's explanation, Wu Xie knew that ordinary craftsmen who lacked background could hardly survive in the fierce competition, and most of them could only depend on the government or big clan. And this potter is especially good. Those with better skills, either forced or voluntary, all eat in the industry of a big family. As for those rural potters, Zhao Wuxi also disliked them, and I am afraid that they would not be able to undertake the complicated craftsmanship of making new products.

Jia Meng looked around, lowered his voice and said, "Do you know, gentleman, who is in charge of this lacquered pottery market?"

The squatter, the single-plank bridge that crosses the river, means arbitrary monopoly.

Zhao Wuxi recalled what he had learned from Ji Qiao before, and he said solemnly, "Could it be Mr. Fan?"

……

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