The East Market and the West Market are both commercial markets in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. They are somewhat similar to a commercial street plus a wholesale market. However, due to their different market locations, the types of goods sold are also slightly different.

Because the East Market is close to the three major palaces, namely Taiji Palace in the West, Daming Palace in the East, and Xingqing Palace in the South, and the surrounding squares are filled with many residences of royal families and dignitaries, the East Market can be said to be “a treasure from all directions.

"Everything is accumulated." Most of the goods sold are high-quality luxury goods to meet the needs of the royal family, nobles and dignitaries.

The West Market is far away from Sannei and is surrounded by many civilian residences. The products sold in the market are mostly daily necessities such as clothes, candles, cakes, medicines, etc. If we use modern terms to describe this, the East Market is high-end.

It is a commercial center, while Xishi is a large supermarket. It targets different customer groups, so the products it sells are also different.

Ordinarily speaking, since Dongshi is a business center of that kind of business level, and it is close to Taiji Palace in the west, Daming Palace in the east, Xingqing Palace in the south, and there are many residences of royal families and dignitaries in the surrounding areas, this business is

No matter what, it should be very popular.

Unfortunately, the reality is exactly the opposite. Compared with the West Market, which faces ordinary people, the East Market's business has nothing to do with prosperity.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand. Not only during the Tang Dynasty, it can be said that throughout the entire historical period, high-level rulers have always regarded merchants as "mean people" and regarded industry and commerce as unprofitable, so they strictly prohibited all officials from entering the market.

In history, in October of the first year of Zhenguan, that is, in 627 AD, and in December of the following year, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty issued bans many times, saying: "Above the fifth grade, no one is allowed to enter the market."

etc.

When searching for relevant historical information, Li Anran once found a quite interesting historical story.

This story tells that during the Wu Zhou Dynasty, there was an official named Zhang Heng, who was born in Lingshi. He was in the fourth rank and was about to enter the third rank. When he retired from the court, he bought a freshly cooked steamed cake by the roadside and ate it on his horse. As a result, he was punished.

The imperial censor impeached him, but he failed to be promoted.

The most exaggerated thing is that Wu Zetian specially issued an edict for this reason: "If you are born outside, you are not allowed to enter the third grade", and "then you will fall into the first rank".

Under such strict laws and regulations, it is strange that the East Market, which specializes in selling high-end goods, can be as lively and prosperous as the West Market.

Fortunately, due to the appearance of Li Anran, and when chatting with Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and even Li Shimin, they all mentioned the topic of "No farming, no stability, no work, no wealth, no business, no life."

.

At the same time, he also deeply discussed the importance of business to the development of a country. Therefore, although the view that merchants are a humble industry has not changed for the time being, Li Shimin is obviously not as resistant to commercial activities as before.

Moreover, although the government order is strict, it does not mean that those royal relatives and dignitaries cannot consume.

Anyway, none of these wealthy families have a few capable housekeepers and servants. If you really need something, why do you need these royal relatives and dignitaries to buy it in person? If you just use your words, the people below will naturally take care of the matter.

Properly.

As for the Kunlun slaves, they were considered a luxury item in the Tang Dynasty. Even though they were also considered slaves, foreign slaves like this, who were tall, strong, and dark-skinned, could not be helped by not to mention ordinary people, even landlords and wealthy businessmen with slightly less wealth.

Affordable.

However, after Li Anran and Xiangyun appeared in Chang'an City together, they did not go to the East Market. Instead, they rented a luxury four-wheel carriage from the horse and carriage shop and rushed towards the West Market.

Some friends may ask, isn't it said that the East Market is a high-end commercial center, and Kunlun Nu is a luxury product, why not go to the East Market and go to the "large supermarket" West Market instead.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with this, because the West Market is not only a "large supermarket" for the general public, but also an international super market that includes a large number of international merchants from the Western Regions, Japan, South Korea, etc.

Since the West Market is relatively close to the starting point of the Silk Road in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, there are many foreign businessmen from all over the world living in the surrounding areas, including Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, as well as Goryeo, Baekje, Silla, Japan and other countries.

There are merchants from all regions.

Among them, Central Asia and Persia, that is, Iran in later generations, and Dashi, that is, Arabs in later generations, had the largest number of Hu merchants. This group of foreign merchants basically lived in the West Market or some squares near the West Market.

These merchants from various countries are mainly engaged in jewelry, spices, medicinal materials, silk, and loan business. At the same time, some are engaged in the business of operating wine shops and hotels. Therefore, many foreign merchants have opened shops in the Western Market, such as Persia

mansion, jewelry store, warehouse, wine shop, etc.

And these merchants from various countries, after making enough profits in Datang, usually purchase tea, spices, silk fabrics, porcelain and other commodities in Datang, and sell them in Canada to make huge profits.

It is indeed huge profits. Even in modern time and space, many businesses in international trade are still huge profits, not to mention the Tang Dynasty where transportation is extremely inconvenient. Many foreign merchants, even if they can only go back and forth once a year, have already earned

The bowl is full.

When searching for historical information, Li Anran also found many records about Hu businessmen. For example, a Hu businessman in Xishi purchased the pure mud bead jewelry given by Wu Zetian from a monk of Ximing Temple for 100,000 yuan.

There are also Hu merchants who want to spend 10 million to buy precious bones from the monks of Bodhi Temple in Pingkangfang, etc. It can be seen that the Hu merchants living in Chang'an at that time made a lot of profits from the business operations of Xishi, and it also shows that the business area of ​​Xishi at that time was

Mature.

According to historical records, during the Tang Dynasty, the West Market in Chang'an, Kyoto, covered an area of ​​more than 1,600 acres, with a construction area of ​​about 1 million square meters, covering more than 200 industries. There were 40,000 fixed shops alone.

There were many houses, but it was considered the largest commercial center in the world at that time.

Although it is only the second year of Zhenguan and has not yet reached the stage of the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, as the carriage drove into the West Market, the noise that hit us still highlighted the prosperity here.

Considering that he did not want others to discover his thoughts when he came out this time, Li Anran did not run directly towards the Kunlun Slave store. Instead, he asked the carriage he was riding in, which he said had a stake in the horse carriage shop, to

I started walking around slowly.

You wouldn’t know if you didn’t go shopping, but Li Anran discovered that he found many shops and goods that didn’t belong to the Tang Dynasty along the way. For example, it was obvious that he had learned from the food in the commercial street.

, and even saw a shop that also made Western pastry, but the varieties inside were obviously much worse than those in the commercial street.

What left Li Anran speechless the most was that there was actually a jewelry store that openly sold artificial gemstones that he had obtained from modern time and space. The reason why he could tell the difference was because the cutting technology of these gemstones was not mastered by the Tang Dynasty.

of.

Since he went shopping, it was impossible not to buy anything. Considering that his appearance must be eye-catching, Li Anran did not fulfill the duties of a man when accompanying a woman when shopping. Instead, he asked Xiangyun to make several trips to buy some things.

I bought some special food and interesting little things.

After the two of them drove around the West Market for a while, they saw that it was getting late, so they asked the driver to stop the car in front of a shop that sold foreign slaves.

In fact, there are not many merchants selling foreign slaves, on the contrary, there are many. Along the way, I saw many scattered Hu merchants who directly put slaves on the street to sell them. However, for Li Anran, this

The quantity is not enough at all, it is better to go to the big seller first to check the situation.

"Lang Jun, this shop is the largest and most reputable slave shop in the entire West City." The driver parked the car in front of a shop with a large facade and the driver sitting outside the car said enthusiastically.

I couldn't help but be attentive. Although the money earned from this business trip was for the shop, I helped explain the situation in the West Market along the way, as well as some rumors, and even occasionally helped with some chores.

Received a reward of one denarius.

Although this silver is rarely circulated, and it generally requires a handling fee to be exchanged, it can still be exchanged for seventy or eighty copper coins in gold and silver shops or banks. For the era of the Tang Dynasty, it was considered a considerable amount of money.
Chapter completed!