Chapter 118: Shop
July 3, 2022mich
The first glimmer of sunlight was dawning, gilding the snowy mountain peaks in the distance with a layer of brilliant golden light. Eagles flew through the clear, azure sky, leaving the gentle and light scenery of floating clouds. The morning bell had just rung three times, and the Holy City’s south market had long been lively and crowded, bustling with activity.
Yaoying, dressed in a bright curling-patterned dress and a veil over her face, walked into the market accompanied by Ashina Bisha.
The main street of the market was not long, but it was crowded with merchants. Both sides were crowded and densely packed, and stores were lined up in rows. Behind the flowery curtains, people were packed within the stores. It was impossible to find a place to put one’s feet. Merchants of different skin colors, speaking different languages, wearing different clothes, and coming from different tribes came and went. Goods from various countries in the Western Regions were sold here—compared with the market in Chang’an, it was a different kind of bustle and liveliness.
The market was a boiling cauldron of noises, and the sound of crisp camel bells harmonized with the sounds of hawking and selling in foreign languages.
Yaoying walked along and looked at the stores, most of which were selling jewelry, furs, spices, silks, carpets, and all kinds of exquisite goods, a dazzling lineup that could blind the viewer.
But she found that the number of goods originating from the Central Plains numbered few.
Ashina Bisha explained to her: “The commercial road to the Central Plains is not only mountainous but largely consists of deserts. The journey is difficult and dangerous. Over the years, there have been a series of military disasters, so the commercial road to the Central Plains has long been abandoned, and generally, merchants dare not easily risk it. Most of the merchants here take three trade routes: the northern route going north over the Tianshan Mountains, past Suiye City, through Jingkang, Shi, and as far as Fulin; the central route goes along the edge of the desert to the west, from Qiuci to Kashgar to Gandhara, and then north to Kang or south to Tianzhu; the southern route goes along the southern edge of the desert, through Loulan, Qiemo, Yutian, and Shache, to Shule.
“After reaching Tianzhu, a fraction of the merchants go south and reach the southern border of the Central Plains either through Qunnu City and Wangshe City to Tubo, or from Phyo to Yongchang. The rest of the merchants take the sea route, bypassing Tianzhu, and trade with the Central Plains merchants who arrive here after several months of sea voyage. For the most part, those merchants come from Guangzhou, Mingzhou, Yangzhou, and other areas in the southern part of the Central Plains.”
Yaoying listened with immense regret.
The three merchant routes Bisha mentioned actually perfectly coincided with the western route of the former Silk Road. Only the starting little bit of the route, from the Central Plains’ Chang’an to the Yumen Pass in Dunhuang, was cut off because the Central Plains had long lost dominion over the Helong area. The road was blocked, so contact was obstructed.
Merchants who were unafraid to brave the dangers to cross the vast deserts and seemingly endless snow-capped mountains across the east and west lands to travel between the Central Plains and Fulin were naturally not easily discouraged by the obstruction of the trade route. With the boom of shipbuilding, more and more merchants opted for the large load capacity and lower cost that maritime trade offered.
This maritime trade route started from the ports of Mingzhou, Yangzhou, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou in the Central Plains, crossed the South China Sea, passed through Geluofusha to the western part of Tianzhu, and then by land to the Western Regions and Persia, reaching as far as Fulin and Jerusalem. Later generations would refer to it as the Maritime Silk Road.
Yaoying heard Li Zhongqian mention that most of the goods shipped from the Central Plains to the West on the Maritime Silk Road were porcelain, tea, silk, copper and iron objects, while those brought back to the Central Plains were rare spices, flowers and plants, and exotic treasures, which were often snapped up by the noble families of Southern Chu as soon as they arrived at the port. The affluence in Southern Chu was very clearly concentrated in one area.
At that time, Li Zhongqian joked with her that if he captured the capital of Southern Chu, he would definitely take her for a stroll through the Southern Chu imperial palace’s treasury.
Yaoying’s thoughts wandered for a while as she continued to observe the Holy City’s market.
The Northern Rong’s Wakhan Khan wanted to unify the Western Regions. Thus, he had to capture the Royal Court and ensure that all the countries along the Northern Road were under the Northern Rong’s control. However, as long as Tumoruga held on to the Royal Court, Wakhan Khan could not seize control over the Northern Road of the Western Regions. During the confrontation between the two countries, small countries such as Gaochang and Yanqi had room to breathe.
Gaochang’s prosperity largely depended on the smooth flow of trade.
When the time comes, this fact could be used to persuade the Yuchi royal family of Gaochang to form an alliance.
The goods in the market were varied and plentiful.
Yaoying, pondering as she strolled past, saw carpets from Persia, glazed lamps from Fulin, Buddha’s teeth1 from Tianzhu, wine from Gaochang, and scriptures written in gold from Egypt.
Xie Qing, Xie Peng, and Xie Chong followed her, their eyes unable to keep up.
When Xie Peng saw Yaoying staring at the colorful brocade hanging in the store of a Sogdiana merchant, he immediately fished out silver coins: “What does the princess want to buy?”
Yaoying shook her head and said, “I’m not here for personal shopping today.”
Xie Peng’s face was full of perplexity.
The weather was getting sizzling hot, and the climate of the Royal Court was very suitable for the growth of melons and fruits, so there were Hu merchants everywhere pulling carts of melons and fruits for sale. The few of them bought some melons and fruits and grain and passed through the marketplace to an adobe courtyard outside the city.
The Han Chinese in the courtyard, from their young to old, all greeted them and knelt on the ground, weeping.
An elderly man with a white beard cried, “I have no way to repay the princess’s life-saving grace. I would like to serve as an ox and a horse for the princess.”
Yaoying gestured to Xie Peng to help the old man up and looked around.
In the courtyard, the men and women, young and old, all looked at her with expectant faces.
These people, malnourished and sickly and dressed in rags, were the Han slaves she had bought from the Hu merchants. They hailed from Hexi. Some of them were born in the Western Regions, and some of them had moved to the Western Regions. When the Western Regions was in turmoil, they were reduced to pariahs, and their situation was miserable, so they were taken captive and trafficked here.
The old man dried his tears and voiced the question in everyone’s hearts, “Princess, is the Emperor of the Central Plains going to send troops to recover Hexi and the Northern Court?”
Everyone looked up at Yaoying, and there seemed to be two raging flames burning in their eyes.
Yaoying shook her head, “The Central Plains is currently unable to send troops to recover Hexi and the Northern Court.”
The gleam in the old man’s eyes instantly dimmed.
Yaoying looked at the crowd, raised her voice, her look majestic and resolute: “But the Central Plains has never forgotten its own people. All the civil and military ministers in the court are looking forward to recovering our lost territory as soon as possible. The Great Wei has pacified the Central Plains, and the only thing that can be done is to strengthen the army and replenish the provisions to ensure that we can recover the rivers and mountains as soon as possible!”
Hearing this, the old man got excited again: “The princess is right. We have been looking forward to this for so many years, we will definitely be able to see to the day when we return to the east!”
The crowd tearfully nodded in agreement.
Xie Peng handed out the fruit and grain. Everyone thanked him profusely and kowtowed to Yaoying.
The old man was the only one among them who had learned to read, so Xie Chong fetched the list he had written up and handed it to Yaoying to look over.
“Princess, there are a total of one hundred and eleven people sheltered here: fifty-one men and sixty women. Most of them are old, sick, and disabled. They were sold at a low price because they cannot work anymore.”
Yaoying read through the list, nodding her head.
Xie Chong asked, “Princess, how should we help settle them? Take them back to the Central Plains with us?”
Yaoying stood on the raised platform, looking at the crowd in the courtyard who were holding the crude naan cakes and wolfing them down, and frowned lightly.
“We are going back to the Central Plains, and it is impossible to take these people along with us to risk their lives. We will surely save more people in the future. Wherever we go, will they all follow us?”
Xie Chong scratched his head. This was indeed a difficult problem. They could not take these Han people wherever they went. For more than a hundred people, the princess could afford to support. In the future, when the people numbered more and more, they could not all rely on the princess alone to support, right?
Yaoying unhurriedly said: “It is better to teach people to fish than to give them fish. Ask them what skills they have, whether they can dye cloth, embroider, smithwork, or are literate… as long as they have a skill. It does not matter if they do not have a particular skill; they can start learning now. Those who are not well can stay and take care of the children and the elderly.”
Xie Chong heeded her words and asked, “Why does the princess want to help them find some work?”
Yaoying shook her head: “If you help them find work, they will still be bullied. I have already asked Bisha to help me buy two silk stores to give them to operate first. Today, I looked at the market. The styles of the Central Plains’ brocade sold here are a few years out of style, not as exquisite and novel as the ones we brought from the Central Plains.”
Xie Chong suddenly realized: No wonder the princess wanted to send silk to the monks of the Buddhist temple!