The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 529 Foreign Goods Made in China

Stone City is one of the westernmost border cities in the Yongtai Dynasty.

The city is located at the intersection of the Karakoram Mountains, the Hindu Kush Mountains, and snow-capped mountains.

It is surrounded by cliffs on three sides, with only one side open to traffic.

It is naturally easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The city walls, foundations, and fortifications of the entire city were all built using natural stones and adobe bricks from the Pamir Plateau, making it look like a fortress made of huge stones from a distance.

Merchants traveling along the Silk Road called it Stone City.

Historically, this place was also the capital of the ancient Western Region kingdoms of "Puli" and "Qiepantuo".

Today, it serves as the gateway to the country along the southern route of the Silk Road.

Thousands of descendants of Qiepantuo still live here.

Their appearance is typical of Caucasians.

High nose, deep-set eyes, fair skin, three-dimensional features, and a rosy complexion from the high altitude.

After the Kansai Army conquered the Western Regions, each of these important border passes was garrisoned with 1,000 households.

Winter arrives on the plateau one or two months earlier than on the plains.

It's not unusual for snow to fall in the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

As October arrives, the temperature becomes frighteningly cold.

In Bagua City, thousands of miles away, the autumn trade fair, which has been bustling for several years, is coming to an end.

How would you describe this year's Autumn Trade Fair?
The transaction volume reportedly reached a staggering and alarming level.

Several products have broken records again.

Solid-color and transparent glass products appeared in large quantities.

There are glasses, wine glasses, wine bottles, and glass tableware.

Related to this are reading glasses and silver nitrate glass mirrors.

Breaking away from the traditional Venetian artisan method of silvering with amalgam (mercury is toxic and expensive), they used silver nitrate and reducing agents to deposit a silver layer on the glass surface.

These were, of course, the methods and experimental equipment provided by General Gan.

The mirrors made using this method not only have higher clarity but also lower costs and are harmless to the craftsmen.

In Europe today, even a small mirror, no bigger than the palm of your hand, can cost a craftsman several years' wages.

A half-body piece would cost more than three thousand silver livers.

Imported to the Central Plains by foreign merchants, its price was, as you can imagine, exorbitant. It was absolutely the epitome of luxury!
And this year.

The imported mirrors that were once sought after by major trading companies are now displayed brightly on the Kansai Trading Company's showroom.

The quality is visibly better.

The selling price, however, is less than one-fifth of what foreign merchants sold it for last year.

See you all.

Major trading companies went crazy for it.

Pocket watches produced by the Ganluchuan Watch Workshop were also selling well.

These pocket watches come in a wide variety of styles, and their designs naturally align with the aesthetic preferences of the Han people.

Some are simple and grand, while others are exquisite and luxurious.

Furthermore, it replaced the Arabic numerals commonly used by Westerners with the twelve two-hour periods commonly used by Han Chinese.

A large grandfather clock, on the hour, a small bird will jump out to chime the time.

Most ordinary goods were sold for only one-tenth of the price that foreign merchants sold them for last year.

High-end items with gold accents and gemstones come at a different price.

Most importantly, the shipment volume of general merchandise is not low!
The merchants who bought these domestically produced imported goods were ecstatic!

It is said that the workshops in question have orders booked up for five years to come!

Domestic sales alone have surpassed last year's record.

Chief Clerk of the Kansai Tax Bureau:
What? A promotion! No, no, no, I don't want a promotion. I just want to work in Kansai until I retire.

You asked, if domestic sales are so booming, what's the situation with exports?
The autumn trade fair is almost over this year, and we still haven't seen any foreign merchants.

The soldiers stationed at Stone City gazed into the distance from their outposts every day.

A few impatient boys couldn't help but mutter to themselves again:
"This year is the first year of the complete recovery of the Western Regions. Logically, there should be more foreign merchants coming. Why is there still no movement?"

"You've probably forgotten about the massacre of over eight thousand foreign merchants by the Hu people last year!"

"We must not forget, we absolutely must not forget! If it weren't for these barbarians committing crimes, we wouldn't have been able to march all the way to Anxi."

"Didn't the General send six hundred guards to escort that Venetian merchant back to his hometown? He even brought back the culprit for the families of those foreign merchants. Isn't that enough sincerity?"

Yes!

They all lost their kingdoms because of this.

Why don't you come to the trade office anymore?