The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 397 Specialties
When Gan Mingfu returned to the border town, he not only brought hundreds of truckloads of Guanzhong specialties, but also prepared generous gifts for his future father-in-law and mother-in-law.

For example, the wild horse foal that his future father-in-law had been longing for.

The wild foals were over six months old, two of which were descendants of the King of the Wild Horses. This time, his sister gave away a total of eight foals.

If it weren't for entrusting the foal to him...

The wild horse king is sure to cause a death.

They cherish their own child.

This year, we added ten more jars of the medicinal wine that my future mother-in-law loves, on top of last year's amount.

The gift for his future daughter-in-law was a new piece of Yun brocade woven this year by Liupi Brocade Workshop, with the most exquisite colors and patterns.

As for Mr. and Mrs. Gan, neither of them were fond of luxury.

Gan Minglan prepared fifty bolts of cotton cloth in various colors, some thin, some thick, and some medium-thick.

It's fine for family use.

It's also a presentable gift.

There is no more practical fabric than cotton.

The cotton from Huozhou is of very good quality. Since I rarely get to go back, I wanted to bring back a lot.

To save space in the carriage, Gan Minglan had all the cotton made into cotton quilts.

They come in various weights.

You can use it as a blanket by covering it with cotton cloth.

You can take it out and stuff it into your cotton-padded coat.

A rough count revealed over six hundred entries.

In addition, dried fruits, preserved fruits, and various fruit wines were prepared for the wedding banquet.

There were so many that they could host a city-wide banquet.

Besides what her own family could use, Gan Minglan prepared a surprise for the families of soldiers in several garrisons.

Five hundred bushels of rice seeds, with a yield of no less than six bushels per mu!

Border towns have many lakes, which are also suitable for growing rice.

This is another sustainable high-yield variety, following the high-yield wheat variety.

The generals of the garrison will surely be very pleased with this gift.

Finally, the items that made up more than a dozen cars of luggage on this trip were those ten thousand pairs of snow boots.

Since Gan Luchuan invented the snow boots, these amazing winter shoes, two years ago, they have attracted skilled craftsmen from various garrisons to rush to imitate them.

These shoes can last for several years; the local market is already saturated.

Last year, snow boots were seen all over the Hexi Corridor.

However, Huaiqing Prefecture and the border town are still worth promoting.

These 10,000 pairs of snow boots were made by the families of the soldiers under Gan Minglan's orders during the period when the Gan family was negotiating a marriage with the Prince's Mansion.

Just by hitching a ride, a family can earn a few dozen taels of silver.

Why would the families of the soldiers be unhappy?
They all expressed that it was not easy to handle this transaction for them, and that the silver from the sale must be given to Commander Gan as 20% of the profit.

Gan Minglan accepted the gift with a smile from her younger brother.

I'm about to get married, how can I not have some money to support my family?
It's better for me to have it if my father has it and my mother has it.

Besides these, another local specialty of Ganluchuan is pigeons.

These are not ordinary pigeons; they are trained homing pigeons.

Among the 40,000 immigrants to Ganluchuan, many talented individuals were discovered.

One of the families had experience training homing pigeons.

After discovering that Ganluchuan had a large number of high-quality pigeons, he volunteered to train homing pigeons for the general.

Initially, the carrier pigeons only traveled between Hami City and Ganlu River.

Later, as the training distance gradually increased, homing pigeons became the most popular messengers between various garrisons.

A homing pigeon costs no less than ten taels of silver.

But this couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the garrison commanders for purchasing. Sending messages by carrier pigeon was simply too fast and too convenient.

Following pigeon eggs, homing pigeons have become another source of income for Ganluchuan.

This time, Gan Mingfu brought back more than twenty homing pigeons, which were trained this year and are most suitable for long-distance flight.

Long-distance carrier pigeons remain to be tested.

The only thing I'm certain of is that Xiao Jin, who's traveling with me, will have no problem flying back to Ganluchuan from the border town.

Half a month after its birth, Xiao Jin began to eat the special sculpted food carefully prepared by Gan Minglan. In addition, it was groomed by wood-type supernatural abilities over the years. When it grew up, its wingspan exceeded three and a half meters, making it more majestic and imposing than its father, Da Jin.

With just one wing, it can soar into the sky, and its speed is astonishing.

The distance between Ganluchuan and Biancheng is more than 3,000 li on the ground. At its current speed, it can make a round trip in four days.

After more than a year of intensive training by Gan Minglan, it is now immune to damage from firearms and crossbows currently used by humans.

Speaking of firearms, thanks to General Xiong's tireless efforts, more than a dozen craftsmen were finally transferred from the Huaiqing Prefecture Firearms Workshop half a year ago.

When these craftsmen arrived in Kansai, they were dumbfounded when they heard about the mission.

"How do we transform the cannons that were previously fixed to gun emplacements into mobile artillery that can be disassembled and transported?"

"Does the steel for the cannon barrel need to be further refined?"

The iron used for modern musket and cannon barrels is really not considered high-quality.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have exploded when the temperature got too high while firing.

General Xiong stated that this is the future direction for the improvement of firearms in the Kansai region.

He also encouraged the artisans, saying:

"Spare no expense, go for it! Whoever can forge steel that won't explode, I, the General, will personally recommend him to the Prince for a reward of ten thousand taels of silver. Don't worry, the iron ore production in Guanzhong is still decent."

It's more than just "okay".

In the past two years, Bailisheng, the mining expert, has successively discovered several iron and copper mines. He is General Xiong's most trusted right-hand man after General Gan.

With both fame and fortune, the dozen or so craftsmen immediately threw themselves into hard work at the arsenal in Kansai.

General Xiong believed that this new type of artillery would be available once the grand new city of Hami was completed.

Yes.

Hami New City has not yet been completed.

Since the coal mines have been operating continuously since the city walls were built, the construction speed within the city has naturally been affected.

In addition, most of the buildings still use rammed earth walls. Even the new city of Ganluchuan has been relocated, and this area is not even half completed.

There's not really a rush.

The use of coal in Kansai has not yet aroused the covetousness of the Hu people and Tatars.
Gan Mingfu and his group hurried back to the border town, taking more than twenty days.

The long caravan of horses, along with the wagons loaded with supplies, had already alerted the guards at the city gate.

Far away.

Someone recognized him.

Nowadays, Gan Mingfu is a top trending topic on the border town's hot search list.

No one expected that he would be the one to defeat those talented scholars from Jiangnan!

Everyone says he has the talent to become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), but he doesn't actually have the title of Jinshi!
The Gan family is indeed the richest family in the border town, but what kind of family is the Northwest King's Mansion?
The Gan family's most outstanding talent is General Gan!

But General Gan was a woman who married out of the country!
When the unmarried young men of Huaiqing Prefecture and the border town mentioned this marriage, they were all incredibly envious.

Those who pride themselves on their good family background and social standing also regret getting married too early.

Otherwise, how could it have been Gan Jia Dalang's turn to pluck this flower of wealth and honor?

They could only watch helplessly as the Gan family and the Wang family went through the proper betrothal and marriage procedures.

Of course, after the matchmaker announced the 200,000 taels of betrothal gifts, the sour chickens did quiet down for a few days.

Now, seeing the news figures from the trending topics appear, everyone is eager to squeeze in and watch.

Gan Mingfu: "."

It's only been two years since I last came back, aren't you guys being a little too enthusiastic towards me?

(End of this chapter)