Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Capital Datang

Text Chapter 582: Chinatown in New Buddha City

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    If in later generations, when the country of Sri Lanka is mentioned, people's first reaction may be tourism, followed closely by the gems produced there. Ceylon is a country rich in various gems, whether they are opals, rubies, sapphires, etc.  All can be found here, and it can be said to be a well-deserved kingdom of gemstones.  One of the reasons why Li Min asked Li Zhen and Li Yun for this place was because he was interested in the gem mines on Ceylon Island.

    The gem mines on the island of Ceylon are mainly concentrated in the middle zone in the south, where the famous Buddhist holy city of Kandy in later generations was located. However, in the seventh century AD, the city of Kandy had not yet appeared, but the gems there had already been mined.  For hundreds of years, just because of the backward mining technology, the output of Ceylon gemstones was not large and it was not well-known.

    However, after Li Min occupied this place, he immediately spread the news that it was rich in gems. As a result, a large number of prospectors came to hunt for treasures. Many large gem mines were discovered, and with the advanced mining technology of the Han people, the output of gems increased.  It has risen almost in a straight line and has now become one of the pillar industries of Ceylon. At the location of the later Kandy City, there is already a city under construction called Gem City.

    Gem City is located in the northeast of Buddha City, a distance of two hundred miles. In the past, because gems had to be transported, there was a wide dirt road connecting it. Liu Rengui is planning to change this road into a cement road. Unfortunately, there are too few cement factories on the island.  , not much cement is produced. If it is transported from Taiwan and other places, the transportation cost alone will be extremely high, so it will take a few years for this road to be started.

    There are many types of gemstones mined in Gem City, and they are usually sorted and processed there.  Then they are sent to Buddha City, especially the new Buddha City near the sea.  There is the largest gem trading area in Ceylon, and 70% of the gems mined on the entire island are sent here.  Then they are available for merchants to choose from.  Li Min had heard of this place before coming to Ceylon, so when he came to New Buddha City, he came here first.

    In fact, the reason why Li Min knew about the gem trading area in Xinfo City was not because of reports from his subordinates, but because Wen Xin, Xijun and other women told him. After all, for women, small shiny things like gems have incomparable power.  charm, when I used to choose jewelry stores in Taiwan.  I often heard people talk about the gem trading area in Ceylon, so this time Li Min was coming to Ceylon, they deliberately told him to come here to pick some gems for them. Even the little girl Chou Chou was noisy.  Ask for gems as gifts.

    It is under the pressure of the whole family, and Li Min also wants to see the gem trading in Ceylon with his own eyes, so he is now walking in the gem trading area of ????New Buddha City, looking at the gems sold on both sides with a leisurely expression.  of traders.

    "Rooster, please open the red bun in my bag. It's definitely the best red bun!" A Persian man with a headscarf wrapped around his head spoke bad Chinese that made people's teeth hurt when he solicited business from Li Min.  It's okay to call the young master a rooster, but he can't even tell the difference between gems and buns, and he still has the courage to solicit business from others.  It was really difficult for him.

    The gem trading area is located on the east side of New Buddha City and covers a large area, accounting for almost one-tenth of the total area of ??New Buddha City.  There are several streets in total, and on both sides of these streets.  There are gem shops of all sizes, and in the open spaces on both sides of the street.  There are also many gem merchants setting up stalls to sell gems.  Among them, those who sell gems are mainly local Sinhalese, and there are also a small number of Han, Persians, Indians, etc., while those who buy gems are just the opposite. Almost all of them are foreign businessmen, and it is rare to see local people.  Sinhalese buy here.

    Along the way, Li Min had already had many businessmen selling their gems to him. However, because the occupation of Ceylon was still too short, the promotion effect of Chinese culture was not obvious yet. Although most of the foreign businessmen could speak some simple words,  Although he spoke Chinese, he was not fluent in it, so Li Min didn't pay much attention to their sales promotion. He just took a casual look and walked away.

    Speaking of the gems on both sides of the street, Li Min was really eye-opening. In addition to ordinary red and sapphire, even cat's eye is often seen. Just choosing cat's eye is a big problem. Not all cat's eyes are valuable, and the best ones are  Cat's eyes can be encountered but cannot be sought.

    "Xiao Lin, I heard that there are many Han people looking for gem mines. Why are there so few Han people selling gems now, not even as many as Persians?" Li Min suddenly asked a handsome young man beside him.  This young man is Wen Xin's cousin Xiao Lin. He has been transferred to New Buddha City for nearly a year. He is now in charge of the business development of New Buddha City and is one of Liu Rengui's right-hand assistants.

    When Xiao Lin heard Li Min's question, he smiled and said: "Liu Lang doesn't know something. We Han gem mines generally have fixed suppliers. As long as they are mined, they will be transported directly to Taiwan or Datang through the port.  In places like this, even gem processing is not done here. The Han people who are doing gem business here now are just doing something.?Bulk cargo business, and most of it is concentrated in Chinatown to the east. Almost all the shops there are owned by Han people. If Liu Lang wants to buy gems, he can go there.  "

    Li Min and Xiao Lin were traveling in casual clothes, so Xiao Lin naturally did not need to address Li Min as His Highness.  Li Min was also stunned when he heard the name Chinatown. He didn't expect that a Chinatown would already exist in a place like Buddha City.  This made him very interested, and he immediately urged Xiao Lin to lead the way. He must go and have a look.

    Chinatown was not far from where they were, and they arrived after turning around a few small alleys. However, as soon as they arrived, Li Min immediately felt as if he had returned to the Tang Dynasty. The entire street was full of Tang-style buildings.  The shop signs are all written in Chinese characters. The wide concrete road is full of pedestrians, and the density of Han people here is indeed much higher than in other places.

    When he came to this Chinatown, Li Min immediately felt a sense of familiarity. Although he had only stayed in Ceylon for less than a month, he already had some faith in Taiwan, especially since people here like to add curry to whatever they cook, and there is no such thing as curry.  Chili peppers made him particularly intolerable, so when he smelled the aroma emanating from the restaurants on this street, he couldn't help but salivate.

    "Xiao Lin, let's go, let's go to the restaurant to taste the food and wine here to see if they are authentic?" Li Min said in a good mood as he looked at the three-story restaurant closest to him.

    After hearing this, Xiao Lin secretly laughed in his heart. They had just eaten before they came out. However, in order to show that he was approachable, Li Min ate with ordinary officials in the cafeteria of their commerce department. As the saying goes, do as the Romans do. Today  The most common dish in the cafeteria was mutton curry, which Li Min, who had just arrived in Ceylon, couldn't get used to, so he didn't eat much of the mutton at all. No wonder he was clamoring to eat now.

    After entering the restaurant, Li Min took the menu and ordered a few delicious dishes. Xiao Lin accompanied him. As soon as the food and drinks were served, Li Min immediately started eating like crazy. He was traveling secretly this time and was accompanying him.  The staff were all reduced, and there were no cooks at all, and here in Ceylon they liked to add that original curry to whatever they cooked, which made Li Min suffer a lot.

    The food in this restaurant is good, at least the taste has not changed due to the change of location. However, if it were placed in China, this restaurant would only be considered mid-range at best, but this is the New Buddha City, and there is a restaurant that can cook Chinese food like this  The authentic place is pretty good.

    After eating and drinking, Li Min stopped in Chinatown and found that there were not only many gem shops, but also many shops specializing in Central Plains products, such as porcelain, silk and other well-known items.  There are some unique things, such as clothing, daily necessities, etc. from the Tang Dynasty. Li Min even found a snack shop that served various snacks from the Central Plains. Unfortunately, there was a long queue in front of the shop, and most of them  They were all foreigners, so Li Min thought about it and decided not to join in the fun.

    Since he came to Chinatown, he naturally couldn't miss the largest gem shop here. Besides, a bunch of women at home were waiting to ask him for payment, so Li Min finally went to the largest gem shop in Chinatown, accompanied by Xiao Lin.

    This gem shop is called Baoqi Pavilion. It is a four-story building. Each floor is divided into different areas and sells different types of gems, such as ruby ??sapphire, cat's eye, amethyst, purple jade, etc. Among them  The gems on the first floor are the cheapest. The higher you go, the more expensive the gems are. Of course, the quality of the gems is also better.

    Li Min wanted to buy gems for his family, so he naturally went straight to the fourth floor. The shopkeeper knew Xiao Lin and saw that this young man must be a big shot if he could have Minister Xiao, who was in charge of business, accompany him, so he went there in person.  He accompanied me, and he also took out all the treasures in the store.

    Li Min was very satisfied with the service of this store, especially when the shopkeeper took out their store's treasure, a necklace made of dark green cat's eyes, which surprised Li Min even more. On Ceylon Island  Although cat's eye gemstones are abundant, amber and dark green are the rarest among them. Generally, cat's eyes of these two colors are worth a lot of money if they are just the size of a mung bean. Not to mention that almost all the cat's eyes on this necklace are the size of the belly of a finger.  Strung together, and the bottom one is the size of a pigeon egg, it can be said to be very rare, and it is not an exaggeration to say it is priceless.

    Of course, this cat's eye necklace was also valuable. Even though the shopkeeper gave them a 20% discount, it was still bought by Li Min for 98,000 guan. There was also a necklace made of extremely pure sapphires.  The necklace was also the treasure of Baoqi Pavilion, and was finally bought by Li Min at a huge price.

    It's just that being able to bring out two treasures for the store is already the limit of the Baoqi Pavilion. The rest are some gemstones and jewelry of poor quality. This makes Li Min a little difficult because there are five women and  How can a girl separate two pieces of jewelry?  (?To be continued¡­)
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report