I had an afternoon banquet for an hour. As the rainstorm was approaching, a group of people went to the hotel room to play mahjong and enjoyed it. Sure enough, a heavy rain came soon, and thunder and lightning were roaring in the sky. It took nearly an hour to make a rush. When the clouds dissipate, the rain cleared and the weather became much cooler. Then the group of people rode their horses away from Wuhu Garden and prepared to visit Taihu Lake after the rain again.

Because when playing mahjong just now, several merchants talked about the abundant production of pearls in Taihu Lake. As long as it rainstorms, many shells will rush to the mudflats on the lakeshore with the tides. The people of Wuzhong will rush to pick them up. Sometimes there will be pearls in these shells.

Pearls have been high-end and luxurious precious items since ancient times, and gold, silver and jewelry are important goods that can be directly spent on money.

Pearls are not only high-end decorations, but only wealthy and powerful wealthy nobles can enjoy them. Moreover, pearls are also precious medicinal materials, which have the effect of whitening and nourishing the skin. They can not only remove freckles and nourish the skin, but also enhance the body and clear heat and detoxify. They are extremely valuable items in terms of decoration and medicinal use.

In addition, there was no way to breed beads in this primitive era, or no one realized that pearls could be cultivated manually, so they all collected natural pearls, and the natural yield was extremely rare. If you pick up hundreds of shells on the lake beach, you may not even be able to pry out a pearl. Therefore, after every heavy rain and tide of Taihu Lake, there will be many slaughtered shells on the mudflats, and very few people can get pearls. However, if you collect a pearl that is large enough and smooth and lubricated, some merchants are willing to buy it for a fortune. This scarce material also greatly stimulates local fishermen and civilians. Therefore, even if it does not rain on weekdays, some fishermen with good water will catch shells and pick pearls in the lake. However, the chance of getting pearls depends on how much shit you step on when you go out that day. You need to roll all the way to the lakeside in the pile of shit, and you may have a surprise harvest.

Chen Xu naturally saw many pearls. There are two boxes of thousands in the warehouses of the Marquis Mansion of Xianyang and the villas. There are different colors, including lake beads and sea beads. Generally speaking, there are more freshwater pearls, but freshwater pearls are smaller in size and have large shape differences, and they are not as round and transparent as sea beads. Of course, in terms of ingredients, the effect of beauty and beauty care is not as good as sea beads, because in this era, the sea is more violent and vast, and it is more difficult to collect pearls ten times or even hundreds of times.

The joy of seeing pearls and finding a shell with your own hands is naturally different. Chen Xu has never seen any pearls like this. At most, he has eaten some seafood such as clams and oysters, but these hardly produce pearls, and most of them are farmed in farms and are not natural, because the pollution of aquaculture seawater is relatively high, which is completely incomparable to the purely natural wild baits like Daqin.

Maybe it’s time to go to the beach to catch some sea shells and taste them on the way to Xianyang.

I thought and chatted along the way. When Chen Xu and others came to the Taihu Lake more than ten miles away, they found that the lake water seemed to rise a lot after a heavy rain. Most of the lake beach I rode my horse yesterday had been flooded. At this time, people were everywhere on the beach. Men, women, women, children, and children were all rolled up and down in the warehouse, holding their skirts, and even bare ass boys, girls and children were running back and forth on the beach, laughter and joy.

Almost everyone was holding bamboo pieces or even daggers in their hands to look for shells in the mud and sand. After seeing them, they dug them out and pry them open them. Then they tinkered for a while and threw them on the lake beach, causing many long-legged and thin-necked herons and water birds to compete for food. When they saw people coming, they flapped their wings and sang and feasted in the air, and continued to feast in another place.

This is not only an entertainment event for ordinary people to find pearls to earn some extra money, but also a feast for water birds living around the lake.

This kind of shell is hard to eat at all because it is too hard and can only wait for humans to pry it open before they can have a full meal.

"It's really lively!" Seeing hundreds or thousands of people walking back and forth on the beach, Chen Xu jumped off his horse and threw the reins to the guards who were accompanying him.

A group of teenagers who accompanied them also began to roll up their sleeves and roll up the warehouse. After all, they had never had such entertainment activities before and were still full of the teenager's character. Before Chen Xu could do anything, he rushed to the beach and began to carefully search in the mud and sand as he imitated the locals.

"Mr. Marquis, the surroundings are so lively every summer, but there are very few people who can find pearls!" Qu Hai, who accompanied him, rolled up his trouser legs and said with a smile.

"This kind of natural growth is naturally rare, and if it is too much, it will be worthless!" Chen Xu quickly took off his shoes and rolled up his trousers and walked towards the beach.

Gao Yao, Xiao He, Liu Bang, Cao, and Zhou Bo naturally followed and scattered around, vaguely surrounding Chen Xu.

Xiao He and others didn't know that Chen Xu was the famous Qinghe Marquis all over the world, but today they know that they are excited and imaginable. Now that with the support of Qinghe Marquis, as long as they go to Xianyang, they will definitely get the opportunity to show their ambitions. It is almost a foregone conclusion that success will be achieved in glory and return home in glory.

As for the rebellion of the Qin Dynasty, they never thought of it, especially Liu Bang. Even though he was able to create the Han Empire to ascend the throne in later generations, in fact, he was still in a state of ignorance until he raised the banner of anti-Qin to capture Pei County. He and others supported him as Pei Gong and elected him as the leader. Only then did he recruit soldiers and horses in the name of the son of the Red Emperor to start the formal rebellion.

A gangster gangster finally became a founding emperor, which has to be said to be the pride of the gangster world.

The same thing is said, it’s not afraid of heaven or earth, it’s just that hooligans are cultured, and it’s even more terrifying to be a group of educated hooligans.

Just as Chen Xu and others rode their horses and came to the lake to pick shells and pick pearls, a girl wearing a wide-sleeved gauze dress and a straw hat followed her in a car and followed her to the lakeside under the escort of several guards and maids.

Through the car window, the girl's eyes fell on Chen Xu, who was so excited about digging out in the mud and sand with bare legs, rolled her sleeves, lowered her head, and was extremely excited. She looked at her for several minutes and then turned around and asked a young man next to her: "Did you admit your mistake? That person is really Mr. Xu?"

"Don't worry, Er Niang, that person is indeed Mr. Xu from Xianyang!" The young man nodded quickly, but his face couldn't help but trembled slightly.

This young man is no other person. It was Shang Qi who was arranged by Chen Xu to come to Wuzhong to hook up with Xiang Yu. Although he is a salt merchant now, he is indeed a good match with the Xiang clan. Even Xiang Yu's clan girl would call him up when she went out. The reason for calling him was that he witnessed the conflict between Xiang Yu and Chen Xu in the theater the night before yesterday.

The girl got off the carriage, took off her shoes and lifted the translucent skirt and tied it around her waist. Then she slowly walked towards Chen Xu and others with her barefoot white feet. While walking, she was also looking for shells in the mud and sand. It seemed that there was no difference from other rich ladies who came to find pearls to play.

"It's really just a chance!" After more than ten minutes of searching, Chen Xu finally straightened his waist in a little discouraged manner to rest, and shook his wrists a few times at the same time.

I searched dozens of feet of lake beach in one breath, and dug out a lot of shells of all sizes, but after prying them open, I didn’t even have a single fart. Not to mention the pearls that I could see, I didn’t even dig out a pearl seed as big as rice grains.

"Haha, don't worry, just play as entertainment!" Jiang Chuxing stood up and rubbed his waist a few times with a smile.

Qu Hai naturally didn't have much interest in picking up shells and picking beads. He lived by the lake all year round and knew that digging shells on the beach was just a joke. Therefore, he followed the side empty-handedly and explained: "In fact, there are still many pearls in this big lake. You just need to find those old clams that have been deep in the years. These small clams are washed to the shore by the lake water. Naturally, the possibility of finding them is very small. There is a very powerful pearl collector in Yangxian County opposite the lake. The water is very good and can dive into the bottom of the lake more than ten feet deep. Last year, I heard that a large clam more than two feet long was dug and a giant bead the size of a chicken egg was opened. It is said that when the giant bead was dug out, it was shiny, and even a blind man saw it..."

Chen Xu:...

The blind man can see the rays of light.

However, ancient people always brag about not making drafts. Moreover, even if this kind of rumor is not groundless, as long as there is a little sign, such a thing can be passed on by word of mouth.

Just like when he cut off the big snake in Xiaohe Village, the wild boar was blown to a thousand pounds before he went down the mountain, and the python was blown to a hundred feet long. Later, it was spread outside Xiaohe Village and I don’t know what it looked like. At least Chen Xu has heard of more than ten versions, and he cannot refute it. As long as he refutes, he will inevitably be despised.

"How did that giant bead come back?" Qu Hai's words aroused Gao Yao's interest, and he came over with muddy hands to ask.

"I heard that a huge merchant in Wuzhong went to buy it, but the five thousand dollars were not negotiated, and then there was no further information!" Qu Hai shook his head and said.

"Five thousand coins?" Chen Xu nodded for a moment, "It seems that the pearl must not be too small. Even if it is not as big as a chicken egg, it will at least have an inch diameter. If it is of good quality, it is worth buying even more expensive!"

"What the Marquis said is that this kind of strange pearl can be encountered but hard to find. It is rare to see once in a hundred decades. There are many legends about the appearance of a vast pearl in Wuzhong. I heard that the Yue girl Xi Shi was transformed from pearls bred by clam sperm in the lake. Therefore, it is a stunning name in the world, making the fish in the lake hide, so there is a saying that the fish in the lake are sinking. It's a pity that such a strange woman actually died by sinking the lake, which makes people sigh..." Cao Shen began to feel sad again, with a sad expression on his face.

"Didn't Xi Shi sail with Fan Li on the five lakes and not know where to end? How could there be another saying that the lake sinks?" Chen Xu was puzzled. The most common saying he had heard in later generations was that after Fan Li assisted King Goujian of Yue to destroy the Wu Kingdom, he retired and took Xi Shi away. After rowing into Taihu Lake, he left without a trace.

"No, this is just a folk rumor. Fan Li died of old age and had a wife and a son. How could he take Xi Shi away? Even if he wanted to take it away, such a beautiful woman as a fairy would definitely take her into the harem to enjoy according to the character of the King of Yue. How dare Fan Li cause trouble? Although the cause of Xi Shi's death is unpredictable, the most real ending is that she was afraid of the Queen of Yue and died in the lake!" Xiao He saw the group of people chatting lively, and also squeezed over to discuss it.

"A peerless and beautiful woman died so miserably, which is really heartbreaking..." Cao Shen wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, looking in pain.

"Why do Brother Cao do this? There are countless beauties in the land of Wu and Yue, and the beauty of Xi Shi is just a legend. Tonight, I will definitely find a few young ladies who are equally beautiful to serve you, and I guarantee that you won't come to bed tomorrow!" Qu Hai comforted her with a smile.

"Brother Qu, don't want it. When someone thinks of Xi Shi, he feels heartbroken, and no other women can catch it!" Cao Shen shook his head.

"Hehe, Brother Cao has something to hide?" Gao Yao teased and joked.

"I was in Pei County, and I had a few girls at night. What's the secret to my disguise?" When I said that I might not be able to do anything, Cao Shen rolled his eyes angrily.

Chen Xu:...
Chapter completed!