Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

Constantinople is a city at the crossroads of Eurasian civilizations, so there are many attractions and delicacies from different civilizations in this city.

Due to religious reasons, various alcoholic beverages are not very popular in this region. Instead, there are a variety of teas and juice drinks.

These drinks are quite promising in terms of appearance and taste. If there are any shortcomings, it can only be said that Turks love sugar so much that it may even be a bit excessive in the eyes of outsiders.

This is partly because Turkish people put a lot of sugar in their snacks, and partly because the local climate is suitable for fruit growth, so the local fruits themselves have a relatively high sugar content.

This also led to the fact that even though the UK where Liang En and the others lived all year round was famous for its various desserts filled with sugar, compared with the Turkish dessert drinks, the British snacks and drinks were obviously not sweet enough.

Whether the famous Turkish barbecue is delicious or not all depends on the level of the chef. Liang En had eaten very delicious barbecue in Constantinople, and he also had the kind that was dry and woody, and tasted like it was sprinkled with spices. Something like wood.

Of course, for Liang En and the others, the most important thing is not to eat, drink, and take photos at famous attractions, but to find various things full of history in this historic city.

So after spending two days taking a tour of some important scenic spots in the city, Liang En and the other two went straight to the Grand Bazaar in the city center.

This indoor market located in the core of the old city of Constantinople can be said to be the largest indoor market in the world, covering an area of ​​more than 300,000 square meters, with more than 60 streets and more than 4,000 large and small shops. .

According to the introduction Liang En and the others saw in the hotel travel brochure, the Grand Bazaar receives more than 200,000 tourists from all over the world every day, making it the most famous tourist attraction in Turkey.

However, this core business district was not built for tourism. In 1461, the basic part of this large indoor business district had been built and put into use. At that time, it was mainly used for local transactions.

At the beginning, the main transactions here were some daily necessities. But with the move of the Ottoman capital and the restoration of commercial routes, the types of things sold in this market became more and more diverse.

Now, this huge market concentrates all kinds of Turkish specialties, from carpets to leather clothes, to jewelry, as well as ceramic crafts, lamps, spices, tea and a series of things.

Naturally, all kinds of ancient gadgets are also part of the thousands of goods sold in the Grand Bazaar, but it will test the buyer's eyesight if they want to find good things.

After visiting two antique stores, Liang En and the others felt a little disappointed. Because these stores either charge very high prices or the items are obviously defective. But then again, this is also a common problem among shops opened in tourist areas around the world.

"White copper imitates silver, brass is gold-plated, and there are various ceramics and bronzes that don't look as old as the red velvet underneath." Fan Meng muttered in a low voice after walking out of another store.

"At least you bought something." Liang En, who was empty-handed, glanced at a large plate held by Fan Meng under his arm and said. Although there weren't many good things worth buying in a place like this, it didn't mean there was nothing.

For example, because this copper plate was relatively old, there was a layer of patina on it that was not too thick. As a result, the shop owner thought it was a machine product like the other items in his store and sold it to Pierce, but in fact it was a handmade product. Forged copper plate.

Walking along this street selling all kinds of used goods, Liang En finally stopped at the door of a shop that looked small and dark.

Different from the beautifully decorated shops that Liang En and the others had seen before, this shop looked messy, with the shelves on both sides filled with various documents and books.

Surprisingly, the shop owner’s English proficiency was approximately zero. Fortunately, the languages ​​Liang En mastered included Turkish, so he was able to communicate with the shop owner.

"How do you sell these - um - written materials?" Liang En asked the shop owner.

"The various volumes of books on the shelf behind me need to be negotiated separately. As for the items on the shelves on both sides, I have marked prices below, which are three for one dollar, one for one dollar, and three dollars. One and ten dollars a piece.”

Because Liang En was speaking Turkish now, the businessman's attitude seemed much better. At least he no longer had the indifferent expression just now, and he even took the initiative to introduce a few words.

"Most of the things I sell in my store are selected from what I have eliminated from various libraries and materials libraries, and the other part are things I have carefully collected."

"Let me take a look." Liang En said and walked into the store alone, then carefully avoided the piles of things on the ground and came to the center of the store to start looking at the things on the shelves.

Liang En only believed 1/3 of the story told by the shop owner. After all, each of these antique dealers were bright-tongued people. If they could adulterate the truth with the truth, they were considered conscientious merchants.

After a brief look, Liang En found that at least half of the documents placed in the cabinets around him seemed to be really old, but many of the fine books on the shelves behind the antique dealer looked a little wrong.

Obviously, this is a long-term way to catch the big fish, that is, most of the cheap things in the store are real, but it is hard to say about the expensive things.

After a brief inquiry, Liang En confirmed his suspicion. The cheapest books placed behind him cost more than 10,000 US dollars, and the most expensive ones even cost 100,000 US dollars.

You must know that the per capita annual income of Turks is only about 10,000 US dollars, so the pile of old leather-wrapped books can be said to be extremely expensive. It can be closed for half a year and open for half a year.

Facing the things that almost filled the room, Liang En naturally didn't have the energy to go through them one by one, but instead used a [Detection (N)] card. Thanks to the small size of the shop, one card can completely cover it.

Unexpectedly, the most historically valuable thing in the whole room was not among the pile of hardcover books on the back wall of the store, but on the bookshelf with a three-dollar book hanging on it.

Following the light, Liang En discovered that the thing emitting light was a handmade custom-made notebook on the shelf. The reason why we emphasize pure handwork is because this book looks like a pile of papers of different sizes stuck together.

After pretending to stand in front of the cabinet and looking at it, Liang En took out the notebook, and surprisingly found that it was written in old-fashioned Turkish similar to Arabic, not the new-style Turkish written in Latin.

After briefly checking the notebook, Liang En found that the notebook seemed to be dozens or hundreds of pages thick, and the records inside contained information on how to make a variety of dairy products.

These contents provide detailed information on how to make several types of cheese, cream and yogurt. It can be operated directly after reading it.

But the strange thing is that Liang En searched through the entire book and could not find the author of this notebook. He only saw the word Topkapi Palace that suddenly appeared in a corner of the last page.