Chapter 3, Imitation Beast Charcoal

Through the memories of the unfortunate child, he understands that in this unknown era, one cannot go out without a travel permit. Naturally, he and his uncle also possess a travel permit; otherwise, they would not even be able to leave Yongzhou, let alone come to the capital.

This is the first day he experiences the cold of this world since his arrival, after all, for the previous two days, he was in a state of deep slumber, completely unaware.

The prices of bamboo charcoal and wood charcoal are generally not very high, approximately around 5 to 6 wen per pound. This year, due to the cold weather, wood charcoal has become slightly more expensive, but it will not exceed 10 wen per pound. A charcoal seller can produce over a hundred pounds of wood charcoal in a day, so taking out half a day's output is not a significant matter for him

After he finished speaking, he began to focus on continuing to carve the charcoal, with charcoal dust flying all over the ground

Today's goal is to buy a pair of thicker cotton shoes for the little girl, and also to get myself a decent cotton quilt

This is the capital of the Great Jin, the capital city.

The young man swallowed hard and obediently took out the travel permit from his pocket, handing it over.

Young man, where are you from? Are you a local? Do you have a travel permit

It is still very cold at night, and there are only two beds in this room. The charcoal seller sleeps with his granddaughter, while Li Xin sleeps alone on a relatively small bed, clutching a pile of straw made into a bedding, shivering from the cold

"Coming from Yongzhou, arriving in the capital city... to search for relatives"

Li Xin looked up and saw a robust man, dressed in military attire, standing in front of him

Li Xin was slightly surprised and raised his head to look at the seemingly ordinary old man selling charcoal. The old man stopped his chopping and awkwardly cleared his throat, asking, "Do you know about beast charcoal?"

The little girl could no longer bear it and immediately ran to her grandfather, who was burning charcoal, to report. The old man stopped the bellows and bent down to walk over to Li Xin's side. He saw that the young man was carving the charcoal on the ground into the shapes of various animals, including tigers, pixiu, and so on. Although they could not be described as lifelike, they had taken shape and looked quite impressive.

In a past life, I was a rural child, able to thrive effortlessly in a first-tier city. Now, I too can live a dignified life in this city!

The road into the city, he had seen it in the memories of an unfortunate child, thus he could somewhat discern where the capital was. After walking for seven or eight miles, the warmth generated by the exercise gradually dispelled the chill on his body. Li Xin raised his head and saw a majestic and imposing city standing before him.

Brother, what are you doing

Thus, Li Xin worked in this wooden cabin for an entire day. Since there were no lights in the room, once it became completely dark, he could no longer continue carving the charcoal. Before finishing up, Li Xin roughly counted and found that he had produced about twenty to thirty pieces of imitation beast charcoal, totaling around ten pounds.

Li Xin secretly complained to himself that he was not a professional sculptor; at most, he could be considered an amateur woodcarving enthusiast. Carving out a piece of imitation beast charcoal would take him a considerable amount of time, and if he were to carve out fifty pounds of charcoal, that would truly be a challenge for him

The black charcoal ashes scattered all over the ground, causing the little girl great distress. Although she was young, she understood that the charcoal her grandfather had painstakingly produced could be sold for some coins to buy food and necessities. Moreover, this work could only be done in winter; once spring arrived, they would no longer be able to make charcoal, and her grandfather would have to go up the mountain to chop firewood to sell in the city.

Li Xin looked up for a moment, then let out a slight sigh in his heart

However, after a day of carving, his skills had become somewhat more refined, and the beast charcoal he sculpted in the latter half of the day was considerably more intricate than that of the morning

Thinking of this, Li Xin secretly clenched his fist, carrying the charcoal basket on his back, and strode towards the eastern gate of the capital.

Beast charcoal is a type of charcoal exclusively used by nobility. This charcoal is not produced by direct burning; instead, it is first carbonized, then ground into powder by hand, and mixed with fragrant powders such as spices. It is then molded into the shape of wild beasts. This type of charcoal can burn for several days and nights, producing no smoke and emitting a unique fragrance.

The travel permit of Li Xin was issued by the Qiyang County government of Yongzhou Prefecture, stating the reason as seeking relatives

In the future, I will likely have to fend for myself in this big city.

Li Xin stopped his actions, looked up at the little girl, and smiled broadly: "Little girl, simply selling coal won't earn you any money. Brother wants to find a way to make some money to buy you a pair of cotton shoes to wear."

The soldier glanced at Li Xin and then waved his hand, saying, "Go in."

Li Xin was inspired by a detailed introduction to various types of charcoal from ancient times that he came across in a miscellaneous book in his previous life

The price of firewood is much cheaper than that of charcoal

The guard glanced at Li Xin's worn cloth shoes, then looked down at the travel permit, and finally fixed his gaze on the wooden basket behind Li Xin

Li Xin silently encouraged himself

However, as the charcoal seller mentioned, this type of animal charcoal requires wood with a very high density to be produced. Since they only have pine charcoal and bamboo charcoal here, it is certainly not feasible

The charcoal seller hesitated for a moment as he glanced at Li Xin, then finally shook his head and sighed softly, saying: "Very well, young man, you have your own ideas, so I will let you be. Just do not waste too many resources; at most, carve out fifty jin. Whether you can sell it or not is not of great concern."

The charcoal girl was only wearing a straw sandal, her small feet were frozen and turning purple. She squatted beside Li Xin, watching this big brother using the axe from home to shave the charcoal that she and her grandfather had worked hard to burn.

Li Xin nodded and bowed as he walked through the city gate

What is inside it

However, after listening to the words of the charcoal seller, he did not feel disheartened; instead, he smiled mysteriously and said, "Old man, although we cannot produce genuine beast charcoal, it suffices to create something that resembles it. I naturally have ways to sell these items."

The old man squatted down to take a look, then picked up a piece of charcoal shaped like a tiger, held it in his hand and examined it, then shook his head slightly and said in a hoarse voice: "You young fellow are quite clever; it seems you intend to sell these ordinary pine and bamboo charcoals as beast charcoal?"

The so-called travel permit is a certificate issued by local authorities, which verifies the identity of a person, their origin, destination, and purpose of travel

Thirty years ago, after the Great Jin unified the world, the capital of the Great Jin became the center of the world and also the largest magnificent city under heaven. The city wall before me, standing about ten meters high, appears extremely grand.

At this point, the charcoal seller shook his head and said: "Although I do not know why this beast charcoal is sold at such a high price, I have inquired before that a piece of beast charcoal can last at least a day and a night, or even longer. Therefore, to produce beast charcoal, it must at least be made from ironwood; ordinary pine wood and bamboo will not suffice."

A rough voice interrupted Li Xin's ambitions

After Li Xin walked away, the soldier found a piece of white paper and secretly wrote down Li Xin's name, then hid the paper in his bosom

The entire night, Li Xin hardly managed to sleep, at most dozing off for one or two hours in a half-awake state. When the sky began to brighten, unable to endure it any longer, Li Xin got out of bed. He did not have breakfast, simply greeted the charcoal seller briefly, and then set off into the city carrying a basket of finely carved imitation beast charcoal to sell.

The charcoal seller spoke in a low voice: "The old man has been making charcoal for over ten years, so he naturally has heard some things from those city folks. Wealthy families in the city do not use ordinary charcoal; instead, they use animal-shaped charcoal. The price of this charcoal is several hundred to a thousand times more expensive than ordinary bamboo charcoal, and some are even equivalent to gold

Thus, only during winter can the little girl occasionally see some meat; in other seasons, even having enough to eat is a luxury. Therefore, when she saw Li Xin waste the charcoal, she couldn't help but feel a bit pained.

Li Xin forced a smile and said, "The bamboo charcoal made at home is for the relatives in the city, as the weather has turned cold."