Please ask me to be the emperor

Crystal was called "water jade", or "water essence" or "yuying" in ancient times. The famous poet Qu Yuan once again said in his poem: Climb the Kunlun Mountains and eat jade flowers, live as long as the heaven and earth, and shine as brightly as the sun and the moon. This "Yuying" refers to crystal.

Before the Yuan Dynasty, jade was still popular in China, and various gemstones were not very popular. Until the Yuan Dynasty, merchants from the Western Regions imported a large number of colored gemstones along the Southeast and Western Oceans, which were deeply loved by the nobles of the Yuan Dynasty at that time.

Wait until Zhu Yuanzhang overthrows the Yuan Dynasty and establishes the Ming Dynasty. Ming Cheng Yuan Feng, the pursuit of gemstones is even better.

After Zhu Di's "Jingnan", he sent the Three Treasures eunuch Zheng and Eunuch Zheng on seven voyages to the West, and even purchased a large number of gems.

In particular, Southeast Asia produces various kinds of red and sapphires. Near the Persian Gulf in the West, "all kinds of treasures are available here, including bright red and yellow Yagu stones, red sapphires, ancestral blues, grandmother sapphires, cat's eyes, gold steel diamonds, and large pearls." For example, longan is big and weighs one cent and two cents, coral tree beads, branches and stems, gold amber, amber beads, divine beads, wax amber, black amber, the names are removed and the value is white."

It was only after Liu Daxia burned "Zheng He's Mission to Water" that the Ming Dynasty could no longer organize a fleet to sail to Southeast Asia and the West, so the matter was stopped.

However, the east is not bright and the west is bright. The Ming Dynasty later discovered gem mines in Baojing, Yunnan, which produced a large amount of red and sapphires. Among them, the top-grade rubies are the most famous, and the top-grade "pigeon's blood red" is produced here. This place gradually became the main producing area of ​​gemstones needed in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

However, with the increasing oppression of the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the influence of chieftain rebellions such as the "Bozhou Rebellion" and the "She'an Rebellion", the borders were shrinking day by day, and Yunnan Baojing, a land rich in gems, was subsequently lost.

This so-called "Yunnan Baojing" is the Mogok of Myanmar in later generations, and it is still famous for the production of gems and jade.

There is a saying that "what is good at the top will be bad at the bottom." This is the style of the royal family and the royal family. The extravagant style of the Ming Dynasty was even more prevalent, and people competed to be proud of wearing gems.

In the tenth year of Wanli, when King Lu of Lu'an Prefecture was preparing for his wedding, he used "eight, seven hundred green rubies and more than eighty-five thousand pearls of various kinds" for jewelry alone.

According to the "Records of Ming Shenzong", a total of nine jewelry purchases were made within three years, with a total cost of 2.21 million taels of silver. It is almost the same as the two to three million taels of silver the imperial court spent on the "Bozhou Rebellion", which shows its level of extravagance.

Although crystals are not as rare as gemstones, they are still precious. The places rich in crystal during the Ming Dynasty included Tongshan in Zhangpu, Fujian in the south, and Huangjianshan in Xuanfu in the north. It is also produced in Xinyang, Henan and Xingguo, Hubei. There is even a saying that "the southern crystal is white, the northern crystal is black, and the Shinshu crystal is turbid".

When Zhang Shun saw this "treasure", he immediately became interested. He ignored Tao Taigong's old age and frailty, and quickly asked: "Where did this treasure come from? Is there a place to produce it?"

Tao Taigong was previously one step behind Sanchuan Lu Sanye, and was not as favored as Lu Sanye in front of Zhang Shun.

Even though Taojiawan and Sanchuanji were not far apart, with the support of Zhang Shun, Mr. Lu gave priority to the sale of grain and other products, and the purchase of fur, medicinal materials and other products, especially during the market opening time. On the priority date selection, Taojiawan Market is declining day by day.

Tao Taigong was also very courageous, so he came in person with his granddaughter and treasures, intending to "invest" in Zhang Shunlai.

Seeing Zhang Shun asking, he hurriedly told the story in a trembling voice: "This thing is produced in Taojiawan. We are all people in the mountains and fields. We used to be careless and rough, and it was inevitable to be damaged when mining. If King Shun had his heart, the Tao family would rather Dedicate the local water jade veins to King Shun!"

When Tao Taigong said "offer to King Shun together", he glanced at the girl subconsciously. Zhang Shun understood in his heart and did not comment for a moment. He just smiled and said: "I know everything about my father-in-law. It's just that this matter needs to be discussed in the long run. It won't be too late to discuss it later."

Afterwards, the two had a passionate conversation, and Tao Taigong returned home happily.

When Liu Rushi came out to put away the tea, she saw Zhang Shun still staring at the girl's back, so she pouted and said, "You have a new person and forget about the old one!"

Zhang Shun looked away, smiled playfully and stretched out his hand to scratch the bridge of her nose, then picked her up and placed her on his knees.

Liu Rushi is a typical Jiangnan beauty, with a petite figure and not very heavy when sitting on Zhang Shun's lap. Zhang Shun stretched out his hands around her waist, sniffed her cheek gently with his nose, and said with a smile: "Why are you so jealous? I just wonder if there is something wrong with her legs and feet, why is she limping when she walks?" of?"

Liu Rushi was stunned for a long time after hearing this. He didn't even bother to act coquettishly. Instead, he burst into laughter with a "puff".

She chuckled and said, "Everyone says that I am uneducated and incompetent, but I have not wronged you. She is called the 'Three-Inch Golden Lotus', and when she walks, she is called the 'Weak Willow Supporting the Wind'. The dragon looks like the moon covered by light clouds, and flutters like the snow covered by the flowing wind."

After saying that, she pricked up her ears and listened secretly to the movement in the room, then she lay down on Zhang Shun's ear and whispered softly: "My lady is as charming as she is, even though she has a slender eyebrow, red lips, white teeth, and is as charming as the bottom of her skirt. The lotus boat is full of feet, which is a great disgrace to the scenery, and it will probably be called a 'half-beauty'."

ah? Zhang Shun was surprised. What Liu Rushi said was better than what she sang. In fact, wasn't it the woman who had her feet bound?

He married several wives, none of whom were foot-binding people. He thought that the foot-binding style was a barbarian style brought by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Is the aesthetics of this era so deformed?

Zhang Shun asked quickly, but to his surprise, Liu Rushi breathed like orchid, lay in his ear and said softly: "Do you know how people arrange you outside? They all say that 'King Shun is so lustful that the whole world knows. An ugly girl from three bedrooms works hard. This is why the Wang family in Luanchuan specially sent an ugly girl weighing 180 kilograms last time, but she couldn't tell what your taste was!"

Zhang Shun almost died of joy when he heard this. No wonder he had so many beauties and no one was envious or jealous. Everyone has different tastes in love!

When Liu Rushi saw Zhang Shun laughing out loud, she was afraid that Li Xiang would hear it in the room, so she quickly reached out to cover his mouth.

Zhang Shun finally suppressed his laughter, then opened her little hands and said, "In that case, why don't you guys have your feet bound?"

Liu Rushi became excited after hearing this, and whispered excitedly: "Mrs. Hong is out of the country, riding horses and shooting arrows like men, how can she consider the matter of foot binding? The third lady is a commoner who needs to work hard every day, how can she be trapped in the boudoir with her feet bound?" ?As for my young lady, Mr. Li is very pampered and does not want her to suffer at all, so she is still unmarried!"

With her clever words, she secretly arranged the three ladies. Zhang Shun heard it funny and asked, "What about you?"

"The Nunu family is born with small feet. If they are entangled, they will have no feet!" Liu Rushi secretly laughed.