Chapter 339
A few people looked at the horses for a while, and found a harness shop next to the horse market, explaining that they wanted to buy a set of high-quality saddles, as long as they liked it, the price would not be a problem.
Seeing the good customers, the owner of the store hurriedly asked the boys to serve tea, water and snacks, and waited on them attentively, and ordered them to take out some sets of high-quality saddles for them to have a look at.
The so-called saddle is actually a complete set of harness including saddle, stirrup, whip, saddle, stirrup seat, girdle, front and rear.
The saddle was first invented by the people of northern Xinjiang, but it is relatively simple, just like a cushion.
And our modern concave saddle with front and rear axles was invented by Xianbo people.
After this kind of saddle is fixed on the horse's back, it can limit the rider's body sliding back and forth on the horse and ensure the longitudinal stability, so this kind of saddle was first called "two-bridge vertical saddle".
Later, it was improved, and the front saddle bridge was designed to be taller and upright, while the rear saddle bridge was relatively downward-sloping. This is the 'rear saddle bridge inclined saddle'.
This style of saddle can facilitate the rider to get on and off the horse without affecting its stability.
The components of the saddle are the front saddle bridge, the rear saddle bridge, the front saddle wing, the rear saddle wing, the saddle and the saddle edge. Generally speaking, they are made of willow and birch, because these two kinds of trees are more common in the north. , durable after drying.
These sets of saddles in the store are very exquisite in workmanship and gorgeous in decoration. According to their uses, they are divided into sitting saddles, pack saddles, happy saddles and cart saddles.
And the material of the saddle is also various, there are gilt saddles, silver saddles, cloisonne saddles, lacquer saddles...
There are also various decorations on the front and back of the saddle, such as drawing patterns, or inlaid with shell carvings, bone carvings, and even jade carvings.
There are also saddles, cushions, saddles, saddle flowers, etc. that are decorated with edge patterns or corner patterns. Saddle flowers are mostly made of silver or copper, and some are made of pure gold, but that is extremely rare.
The upholstered saddle is embroidery, which was later improved by the Chinese. The earliest northern tribal peoples were not so particular about it.
Therefore, the production of a set of saddles includes woodworking, embroidery, fur, weaving, silversmithing and other crafts, among which there are many.
There are many Xianbo people, Capricorn people, and Wuhuan people in Yanyun County, and there are many excellent saddle craftsmen among them. On the basis of their traditional crafts, craftsmen from China have innovated and improved, forming a kind of The unique style is the world-famous Yanyun Andan.
Someone once described Yanyun Andan in this way.
'The saddle bridle is light and simple, so that it is easy to gallop, and it weighs no more than seven catties. On the saddle, the wild goose's wings are vertical in front and flat in the back, and they can be folded and turned without hurting the arms; the stirrups are round, so the feet are neutral and not biased; . The leather of the stirrup was kneaded by hand without tanning it, and poured with sheep fat, so it was constantly rotted by the rain. It was only more than an inch wide, and it was not as long as the four heads, so it immediately turned around and went to Shun...'
Xiao Chen didn't know much about this stuff, he just thought everything was good, but Tie Kunlun was an expert, he looked carefully at the selection, the light in the room was too dark to see clearly, so he simply took it outside to have a look.
The owner of the shop was very shrewd, afraid that he would snatch the saddle away, he pouted at a young man, and the young man ran out quickly and stood beside Tie Kunlun to watch closely, as if guarding against a thief.
Xiao Chen chuckled, "Boss, we are all sitting here, can he run away with your treasure? If you are worried, I will give you silver rights as a deposit."
As he spoke, he asked Xiao Ye to take out a large ingot weighing fifty taels from his wallet and throw it on the table with a clang.
They came out to spend money, and there were two thousand taels of silver in the wallet on Xiao Ye's back.
The current catty tael is hexadecimal, which means that a catty of silver is sixteen taels, and fifty taels of ingots are not five catties, but only about three catties.
So two thousand taels of silver was only about one hundred and twenty catties, and Xiao Ye carried it lightly.
"Then how can it be!" The shopkeeper smiled shyly, but picked up the silver and looked at it carefully, "This silver looks fine, but there have been fake silver filled with lead on the market recently, but it has also deceived many people. "
It means that this thing of yours is really fake?
"Boss, if you don't believe me, just cut it open and have a look. Anyway, I'm going to buy something in your store. I like these sets of saddles very much, but I don't know what the asking price is?" Xiao Chen took a fancy to all of them, and wanted to Buy them all back, give the best ones to Liu Ruyun, and give the rest to other friends.
"That's different. For example, the old man outside the door looked at it. It was gilded with silver, high-quality embroidery, selected cowhide, and high-quality birch... If you like it, sir, I will give you three hundred taels of silver." Let's go." The owner said.
"One hundred taels!" Duan Ling'er raised a little finger.
"Are you guys joking with the little guy?" The shopkeeper's expression suddenly stretched.
"Just kidding, just kidding, in fact, three hundred taels is not expensive." Duan Ling'er immediately softened her mouth, saying to her mother, this bargaining failed again.
"We are all real people in business. We don't dare to flatter the girl's joke. Although the material of the other saddles is not as good, but the workmanship is just as fine. They are all handwritten by our master craftsman Yanyun. The price is reasonable." , it all depends on the reward from the master... but if it is less than two hundred taels, the villain will not be able to follow his orders." The shopkeeper said.
"The boss is right. These saddles are really exquisite. The embroidery alone is extraordinary." Ye Baiqing also liked it very much.
"This lord has vision. It's not a villain's bragging. In this huge horse market, our small shop has the best things. Not to mention, the silver inlaid on it is all in full..." After talking about it, the boss still suspects that Xiao Chen's money is fake.
"Your boss is really noisy, just cut it up and see." Ye Baiqing laughed.
"Isn't that embarrassing?" The shop owner ordered a young man to fetch the clippers, and cut one in front of everyone.
Of course it is true, the fineness is so good that the shopkeeper applauded again and again, and a gratified smile appeared on his face.
Suddenly, an imposing middle-aged man in luxurious clothes walked in from outside the door. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted loudly, "Boss, I heard that your saddle is the best. Pick a high-quality saddle for me to see!"
The shop owner was delighted when he saw another high-profile guest coming. He didn't know where the sun rose today? Early in the morning, two big businesses came to the door...
He hurriedly asked him to sit down, and asked the boy to bring some high-quality saddles for him to look at.
This man was extremely bold, with a sweep of his eyes, he stretched out his finger and pointed to a pair of cloisonne saddles, "How much is this asking price?"
"Those who can fall into the eyes of the uncle are naturally high-end goods. I think the uncle is also a wealthy person. If the asking price is less, I am afraid that it will insult the nobleman. Do you think the price of two hundred taels is also reasonable?" the shopkeeper asked hurriedly.
"Why do I like this pair of things? Two hundred taels is not too much. I want it, but I also want to buy a horse, but I don't know if it is suitable? How about you send a buddy to bring it to the horse market with me?" If it’s a Chinese style, I’ll buy all the saddles and horses, so let’s keep it as a deposit.”
The high-ranking guest also took out a big ingot of fifty taels and threw it on the table casually, which was much more generous than Xiao Chen...