Naturally, the matters of the hospital for women and children were handled by Madam Zhang. As for Modun, he remained at home, wholeheartedly accompanying the pregnant Princess Changle. Modun did not even have the slightest interest in Chang 'an's most popular gathering of the Western Regions. He did not even take half a step out of the Mo Estate. This caused the barbarian merchants who had been waiting for Modun to throw away a fortune to be greatly disappointed.
Fortunately, the purchasing of books and seeds from the Western Regions did not cease. As long as there were books and seeds from the Western Regions, there would still be members of the Mohist clan who would spend large sums of money to purchase them. Of course, they would purchase some rare playthings for Princess Changle to play with. However, all of this lacked the generosity of the Mohist clan.
"Husband, please take a look. This is a medical book that records the various countries in the Western Regions. It is of great significance to the medical school of the Tang dynasty." Although the two did not go out, good things were sent to the Mo Mansion continuously. Seeing the medical book in front of her, Princess Changle said as if she had found a treasure.
Meton's face could not help but twitch. It was just some outdated medical books from the Tang dynasty, but it cost the Mo family five gold leaves. Even so, the Mo family's behavior of buying horse bones with gold could not be stopped.
Fortunately, this gathering of the Western Regions was not without harvest. A Hu merchant presented Princess Changle with a small pouch of apple seeds and a perfectly preserved apple. It was said that this was the only apple that had been preserved from the entire chest of apples that had been shipped from Persia.
Looking at the somewhat dehydrated red apple in front of her, she could not help but nod with satisfaction. The apple in front of her was not as big as the apple in the future, but it was already a good fruit transported by the barbarian merchant.
"Young master, the barbarian merchant is still waiting."
Meton looked at the red apple in front of him and thought of something. He said loudly, "Let him wait for a moment. Let brother Mo Jiazi carve a pure gold apple as a reward for him. No, this is not a reward, but a gold apple in exchange for his red apple."
Immediately, a brother of Mo Jiazi came in. After taking a look at the apple, he nodded and left with a bow. The Mo family did not lack talents in carving. It was almost Mo Jiazi's basic skill.
"A gold apple in exchange for a red apple!" Princess Changle couldn't help but roll her eyes. She immediately knew that Meton's prodigal habit was acting up again.
Uncle Fu was also dumbfounded. How precious was this apple to be bought with such a large amount of pure gold?
"Why, do you think it's not worth it?" Meton looked at everyone's surprised expression and smiled.
"But, this is only a fruit. Could it be as precious as the Rohor rice?" Princess Changle asked, puzzled. Moton's actions were as crazy as the Rohor rice.
"Of course, it's not as good as the Johor Rice, but it's not that far off. If the Johor Rice can double the production in the south of the Yangtze River, and this fruit can bring endless benefits to the north of the Yellow River, what do you think its value is?"
"Oh!"
Everyone was shocked and couldn't help but listen. If this apple could really bring endless benefits to the Yellow River, then this little bit of gold was naturally worth it.
"Although this fruit was already dehydrated when it was sent here, it was stored improperly. If it passed through my hands, it would greatly extend the storage time of the apple. It would still be as fresh as before after being stored for half a year. In half a year, the merchants of the Tang Dynasty would be able to sell this fruit to the entire Tang Dynasty. Wife, you can imagine how precious a fruit that could be used by the people of the Tang Dynasty for half a year, and most of the time in the cold winter, would be. How could it not be worth this little bit of gold?" Meton said with a smile.
Apples were said to be the easiest fruit to store in the modern era. Even if it was stored for a few months, it would not be a problem. If it was directly stored in the cold storage, it would be enough to last a year. One could imagine how vast the market would be once apples were popularized in the Tang Dynasty.
Moreover, there were not many fruits in the Tang Dynasty during the winter. Apples ripened in October, and if stored for half a year, it would be enough to last until March or April of the next year. When flowers and fruits were everywhere, it would simply solve the problem of winter fruits in the Tang Dynasty.
"Of course, the most important thing is that this apple is sweet and juicy. It tastes very good and is most suitable for pregnant women like you." Meton took a small knife and gently peeled off a thin layer of apple skin, revealing the white pulp inside.
Meton then cut the pulp and kept the seeds as if they were treasures. Only then did he hand the cut into small pieces of apple pulp to Princess Changle. Changle had been suffering from morning sickness recently, so she could eat some crisp apples to appease her appetite.
Princess Changle picked up a piece of apple pulp and put it in her mouth. Immediately, a sweet juice filled her taste buds. She praised repeatedly, "It's really delicious."
This kind of fruit was extremely delicious and could be preserved for a long time. If it could be popularized on a large scale, not only would the people north of the Yellow River benefit from it, even the people south of the Yangtze River could enjoy this fruit. In this way, Meton had used an apple-sized piece of gold to exchange for such a vast market. It could be said that it was worth it.
"I knew it. How could my husband make a losing deal?" Princess Changle's appetite was greatly stimulated, and she finished the apple pulp in a few bites.
"Young Master, the carving of the golden apple has been completed." Not long after, Uncle Fu came to report with a pure gold apple in his hand. It immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Brother Mo Jiazi's skill was superb, and pure gold was very easy to carve, so this apple could be said to be very similar.
"Then give it to that barbarian merchant!" Meton said with a wave of his hand. To him, a piece of pure gold was far less valuable than the small bag of apple seeds in his hand. This was the guarantee of future winter fruits in the Tang Dynasty.
"Yes!" Uncle Fu bowed and left. Soon, the barbarian merchant's surprised cheers came from outside the residence.
Soon, the news of Mo Jiazi using a pure gold apple to buy a red apple spread through Chang 'an City at the fastest speed.
In Xi City, the barbarian merchants couldn't help but be excited. Meton's promise was still valid. Apples were not rare in the Western Regions, and many people had heard of them. Many of them couldn't help but feel regret. If they had sent the apple over, wouldn't this golden apple have been theirs?
The citizens of Chang 'an were even more excited. Even if there were rumors of Mo Jiazi's prodigal behavior every year, they were still amazed by Meton's extravagance.
"It's just a strange fruit, and Mo Jiazi actually used a piece of gold the size of his fist to buy it. He's simply a prodigal to the extreme." A miserly landlord lamented bitterly. His entire fortune was probably not even worth this piece of gold, yet this Mo Family member had actually used it to buy a fruit.
"I heard that this fruit was eaten by Her Highness. This is probably the most expensive fruit in history!" A citizen clicked his tongue. Even the emperors of ancient times wouldn't be willing to spend the same amount of gold to buy a fruit.
"What do you know? When has Mo Jiazi ever done a losing business? This fruit is a strange fruit from the Outer Regions. Mo Jiazi took the fruit and let the Mo Family cultivate it. When the time comes, everyone in the world will be able to enjoy this fruit. I'm just afraid that you won't be jealous when you see the Mo Family's village making money." A merchant snorted.
Everyone knew that Mo Jiazi spent a lot of money to buy books and seeds from the Outer Regions. Moreover, the spinach and the Johor Rice that was being promoted had already proved the validity of Meton's method.
The Johor Rice was far away in Lingnan, and the people might not know about it. However, spinach was very popular in Chang 'an City. The Mo Family's village had already made a lot of money just by buying spinach leaves. Not to mention, after Meton gave half of the spinach to the women's and children's hospital, the price of spinach had skyrocketed by 30%. The money that the Mo Family's village was making now was a hundred times more than the spinach seeds that Meton bought.
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