This winter, for the Ming masters living in the imperial capital, the two things that I remember the most are that the magic guild announced the secret of the life magic pattern on the fish human skin to all the magicians in the Green Empire, and many Ming masters in the imperial capital participated in the demonstration of the life magic pattern, but unfortunately in the next two months, no one could master this life magic pattern proficiently.Another thing is that a new magic rune board has quietly entered the magic market of the imperial capital, and this low-cost magic rune board quickly occupied the magic market of the imperial capital with a price advantage.In the beginning, it was only widely spread in the circles of the minor aristocracy.Later, some magicians with a keen sense of smell took this kind of newly conceived copper rune plate and approached some magicians in the God's Capital, hoping that they could come up with the same design, but unfortunately many magicians could not explain how this thing was made.Some of the imitations made by magic merchants had already reached twice the cost price of copper hot pots, so these imitations were short-lived in the magic market of the imperial capital and quickly disappeared.This kind of copper hot pot with a copper talisman plate was originally only available in the magic grocery store on the trading floor of the Tower of Pride, but later, it was sold in many magic shops in the imperial capital, but if you want to buy the cheapest copper hot pot, you still have to buy it from the magic grocery store under the Tower of Pride.In fact, after I took these copper hot pots out of Xinliu Valley, I still only sold them to the owner of the magic grocery store on the trading hall on the first floor of the Tower of Pride, and the reason why other magic shops also sold them was that the owner of this magic grocery store privately wholesaled the copper hot pot to other magic shops.There are a lot of strange inventions and creations in the Imperial Capital Magic Research Institute every year, many magic scholars in the research institute are considered magic hermits, they have erudite knowledge and powerful magic power, but they don't want their names to be published in public, many magic shop owners understand this rule, I asked this boss to keep it a secret for me, and the owner of the magic shop agreed without hesitation.The magic caravan stopped in front of the rune workshop, the snow on the street had been cleared, some of the snow had accumulated on the side of the road, and the place where the sun had reached had begun to melt slowly, and the snow water flowed into the culvert by the wall, and the ice edges crisscrossed the culvert, showing icicles like stalactites in the cave, and the snow water was bubbling between them.Some civilians were lying in the corner of the wall where the sun could reach them, with a layer of fur mattresses spread under them, silently absorbing the warmth of the sun, their faces were a little purple from the cold, their hands were in their chests, and their bodies were curled up like green shrimp bent over.It seems that the poor people in the imperial capital do not have enough experience to protect themselves from the cold.In the city of El where they dare to lie down in the street like this, they will be frozen into popsicles in less than half a day, and there are night watchmen in the city who pick up corpses in the early morning, and they push four-wheeled carts through every street and alley, loading some frozen corpses into carts and pushing them to the cemetery outside the city.This is the imperial capital after all, and no one will freeze to death because they are lying on the street basking in the sun.The snow at the gate of the rune workshop had not been cleared, and it looked like it had been closed for days, and Arya, dressed in a thick court dress and a black cloak, stepped out of the magic caravan, lambskin boots on the snow that was almost past the upper of her shoes, and the maid Betty held her arm behind her.The coachman took out a snow shovel from the shelf behind the carriage and shoveled the snow off the steps outside the gate of the Fu Workshop.Walking up the steps, he saw that the lock on the gate was covered with a thick layer of snow, sighed, turned to Arya, and said, "Nick left with the craftsmen in the workshop after all. ”Arya stood quietly at the door of the rune workshop, with a mocking smile on her face, and said to me: "During this time, it is estimated that they think they have mastered the method of making a profit in the rune workshop, so they can't wait to go out and give it a try. ”Betty untied a bunch of copper keys from her waist and walked to my side to try to open the big iron door, but unfortunately the lock on the door condensed a thick layer of ice, and the gold-plated copper key could not be inserted into the lock hole. ”I reached out and touched the copper lock, and said to Betty, "Or, let me try!"
”Betty obediently moved out of the way, and I leaned in to stand side by side with her, and we both stood almost side by side, her body exuded a faint fragrance, she didn't look at me, but pursed her lips slightly, held the copper key in her hand, and turned to help Arya at the bottom of the steps.I drew a magic pattern circle of ice explosion on my chest with my bare hands, and gently spit out a burst word in my mouth, and I heard a crisp sound of "click", and the copper lock on the door shattered in half, and the crack appeared smooth and neat.I unlocked the door and pushed the gate of the Talisman Workshop open, and the courtyard of the Workshop looked very depressed, some ordinary metal plates that had not been plated with magic metal were placed under the canopy in the courtyard, and the thick snow crushed the canopy, and the canvas on the canopy was covered with a layer of snow on top of it, like a large snowdrift.Pushing the door of the workshop, some unfinished rune plates were still left on the production line, and it seemed that the craftsmen in the workshop had walked in a hurry.I stood at the door of the workshop for a long time, without speaking.Arya walked up to me and said to me with a smile, "Wouldn't you feel very frustrated?"
”"Frustrated, why frustrated?"
I scratched my head and asked her strangely."
Shouldn't you be a little disappointed to see the rune workshop you set up collapse like this?"
Arya glanced at me and asked me strangely, her eyes smiling so charmingly that it was easy to ignore what she was saying when she looked at her face."
Huh?"
I was half a beat slower, and Arya gave me a blank look, expressing her disdain for me.I looked at the miniature tornado printing molds, and said to Arya: "The industrial system that combines magic and technology will one day replace this kind of handicraft workshop, and the production of these blank runes has always been in the hands of those Mingshi in the imperial capital, so it has always been the Minghui who controls the price of the rune boards behind the scenes." ”"Hasn't it always been like this?
Something is wrong!
”Arya asked me with a smile."
Of course, they will secretly manipulate the price of runes in the magic market, although it will not change much, but this market has always been up to them."
I said with a sigh.I always thought that Mingshi was a great magical profession, but after all that happened, and seeing so many ugly faces, I realized that these people were actually no different in essence from those slave traders in the slave market.Arya reached out and grabbed an ice slip hanging from the eaves, gently breaking it and holding it in her hand like a broken spear tip, crystal clear in the sunlight.Her delicate face was reflected on the smooth icicles, and she said to me: "For example, your rune board workshop, all the craftsmen disappeared overnight, because these masters cut off the sales of your Adamantite Magic Pattern Talismans, and the entire Imperial Capital Mingshi refused to purchase the empty package rune plates produced by your workshop, I guess this is the real reason that forced Nick to leave!"
”"That's about it!"
I said.Arya smiled at me and said, "Let's come and do textile business with me, the profits of those spider silk demon patterns are several times richer than these magic rune plates, by the way, has your magic pattern spider silk supply been solved?"
”I replied, "Solved!"
The Demonic Spider Silk Ingot will be available normally next month, do you want to go over there and have a look?
”Immediately, I thought of the giant spiders in the silk reeling workshop, more than thirty newly caught giant spiders made the silk reeling workshop not so lifeless, but those giant spiders hissed in horror from time to time, which still made the silk reeling workshop look a little terrifying, at least those goblins would be frightened as long as they heard the word silk reeling, and their legs would be weak with fright.When Arya heard me say this, the expression on her face seemed to freeze, and then she lowered her head and stroked the soft and smooth fabric of the long skirt to hide the panic in her heart, and said to me, "It's better to avoid it, I'm afraid that I will never lose the courage to wear a long dress cut from magic spider silk cloth." ”I smiled, it looked like the horror of the silk reeling workshop really scared Alya.Then I said to her, "The rune workshop here will continue, wait for me, I'll go outside and find a manager." ”In the imperial capital, it is very difficult to find a good manager who can manage the workshop, mainly because most people with this ability will open a workshop on their own.When Arya saw me say this, she looked at me in surprise, as if she didn't believe that I could find a manager who matched my heart at once."
Are you serious?"
Seeing me walk to the gate of the rune workshop, Arya asked behind me."
Of course!"
I replied.Arya stood on the steps of the gate and asked me, "At this time, where are you going to find such a suitable manager, do you want me to ask Betty to come and help you!"
”I was out on the street by this time, and I turned to her and asked, "Are you sure you can leave Betty and do everything yourself?"
”She didn't speak, and it was clear that Betty was also very important to her, and Arya's daily life was almost entirely arranged by Betty.So I waved my hand at her and said, "It's okay, I'll just need an ordinary manager, as long as he knows how to keep accounts and knows how to account for them." ”So saying, I walked to the corner of the street, where lay a poor man basking in the sun, who, like many people, had chosen such a good day, with a roll of fur mattresses in his arms, came out of his cold home, and found a sheltered and sunny place to bask in the sun, he was squinting and curling up to resist the cold wind, but he felt a shadow blocking the last bit of sunlight on his body.He barely opened his eyes, met the sun, and squinted at me.When he saw the black magic robe I was wearing and the magic badge on my chest, and confirmed that I was a magician, he immediately sat up from his fur mattress and said respectfully to me, "Your Excellency the Magician, what can I do for you?"
”This is the gap between nobles and commoners, and whenever a commoner sees a nobleman, he should take the initiative to say hello.There are so many nobles in the imperial capital, so this kind of etiquette is almost rare on the street, but if a nobleman walks in front of a commoner, then it means that the commoner must take the initiative to say hello, otherwise it is a violation of the rights and interests of the nobles.The pauper looked thin in cheeks, but his eyes were clean, and his cotton clothes were not too dirty.I said to him, "Would you like to have a decent job?"
”He nodded without hesitation.I asked him again, "Do you know how to do basic calculations?"
”He hesitated a little, not understanding why I was asking, but said, "The basic calculations are still some." ”I then asked him, "Do you know how to keep accounts?"
”He didn't say anything this time, just looked at me quizzically.I turned to Betty and beckoned to her, "Show me your ledger." ”Betty stood beside Arya, and when she saw me say this, she obediently ran down the steps, took a book from the magic caravan and gave it to me.I opened the account book, and saw that it was only a record of income and expenditure, which was just a purchase record of Arya's daily life, and the handwriting in it was beautiful and neat, I showed one of the pages to the poor man, and asked him, "Can you understand this?"
”"It's an account of the family's income and expenses," the pauper said.I hurriedly closed the accounts because I found this page of a piece of order made in the tailor's shop.
Yi, this was originally nothing, but there was a line of small words on the back: Jijia magician likes it.I coughed lightly in embarrassment, and then I thought that he didn't know me either, and that there was something to be good about, so I asked the pauper, "What is your name?"
”He said, "Murray. ”I asked him again, "Are you from the imperial capital?"
”He nodded.I asked him, "Where does your family live?"
”He pointed to a narrow alley not far away and said, "It's the third civilian apartment in the alley." ”It didn't look like he was lying, so I said to him, "Murray, I've decided to hire you now to help me manage this rune workshop, and now I need you to help me count all the metal plates in the workshop, fifty silver rings a month, would you like to do it?"
”When he heard me say this, he immediately perked up and exclaimed to me with a look of surprise, "I do!"
”