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A cold January wind blew down from the highlands in the west, passing over the warm xican Valley, dry yet bearing a slight chill.
Xiulote pulled his wide priestly cloak tighter around himself as he slowly made his way toward the Priestly Temple. In the Texcoco Lake District, the early mornings of January hovered around 10 degrees Celsius, but by the sunny midday, it was a comfortable and pleasant 20 degrees.
Along the way was the grand market of Tenochtitlan. The slight cold could not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd. With New Year’s festivities just days away on January 12th, nobility and commoners alike from all around had started flocking in. The main city’s market was a sea of people, with at least thirty thousand engaging in trade. In the North City, the scale of comrce was even more astonishing—sixty thousand people.
Xiulote paid close attention to the market transactions. Villagers, typically wearing simple clothing and barefoot, ca with various vegetables, grains, fruits picked from the wilds, spices and even honey, looking for suitable trade partners. Their goals were clear, usually aiming to exchange for stone tools, pottery, tools, and fabric.
Xiulote stopped to observe for a mont. The value of the sa piece of fabric was wildly inconsistent. Sotis it could be exchanged for a turkey, sotis for a turkey plus half a bag of black beans, and sotis even more.
"Your turkey is a bit too small for this fabric, need to add sothing extra. How about that jar of honey you’ve got there?" suggested the fabric rchant with seeming nonchalance.
The farr hesitated. He looked around, could not find anyone to ask, and then tried to argue on his own.
"That won’t do, honey isn’t so easy to co by. People in the village say, city dwellers are transford from hummingbirds, naturally loving honey, a jar can be exchanged for a piece of fabric. And this jar of mine is worth a big piece of fabric too."
The fabric rchant chuckled.
"Exchange for a piece of fabric? Why don’t you beco a Samurai and rob it outright. Your jar is even chipped, who would want it? I’ll return the jar to you in a bit."
The farr felt a little embarrassed. He stood there, shaking his head while holding onto his jar of honey.
After watching for a while, the cloth rchant spoke with impatience.
"I’m only after a taste of sweetness, I’ll give you half a piece of fabric, take it or leave it. I’m busy!"
Having said that, the cloth rchant turned away, busy with who knows what.
The farr stood for a mont longer, looked at the rchant’s profile, and then spoke up anxiously.
"I’ll exchange. I will! But let it be known, I want my jar back."
The fabric rchant then glanced up with a slight smile.
"I can give you the jar back. But since the turkey is so small, I’ll have to deduct so fabric, so half of a piece plus half of another piece." With that, he handed five quarters of a piece of fabric to the farr.
Xiulote calculated in his mind, though it was said to be a quarter of a piece, it was probably just over a fifth. There were no standard asures in the market to go by.
The farr handed over the turkey and the jar of honey to the rchant. As he watched the rchant pour the honey into a whole pottery jar, he happily walked away with the fabric and the chipped jar.
No sooner had the farr disappeared, the fabric rchant quickly grabbed the honey jar, instructed soone next to his stall to watch it, and hurried into the inner market.
Xiulote silently followed. He watched as the cloth rchant reached the edge of the inner market, where he was stopped by Samurai guards. He waved desperately inside, calling out in a low voice. Then, a lavishly dressed great rchant leisurely approached.
"Look, fresh honey! This is the favorite of the nobility, I went to great effort to obtain it."
The cloth rchant bowed humbly, with a smile on his face.
"For just five pieces of fabric’s worth of herbs, I’ll sell it to you."
The great rchant shook his head lightly.
"Keep the five pieces of fabric’s worth of herbs to yourself. You can’t sell to nobility if you can’t enter the inner market. Trying to swindle my goods, quite audacious of you!"
The smile on the cloth rchant’s face faltered then continued smiling.
"But we can still negotiate, can’t we? Na your price!"
The great rchant raised three fingers but didn’t speak.
"That won’t do, it cost three pieces of fabric to buy it!" the cloth rchant exclaid.
The great rchant glanced at the cloth rchant and condescended, causing the latter to quiet down.
"Alright then, let’s et halfway, four pieces!" the cloth rchant gritted his teeth and called out.
The great rchant turned and walked away.
"Fine, fine! Three pieces then. I want the herbs for ho use! I know their price!" the cloth rchant shouted with visible dismay.
Only then did the great rchant turn back and nod slightly. He called over an Escort and whispered a few words. Shortly after, the Escort ca with a small cloth bag, inside was a handful of processed herbs.
The cloth rchant counted them and then his face lit up with a smile. He bowed to the great rchant and hurried back to his stall. Xiulote observed from a distance, frowning slightly, as these herbs seed much cheaper than what he knew.
Xiulote thought for a mont and then slowly followed the lavishly dressed great rchant, watching him walk to the luxury goods shops. Each shop had canopies, and he went under one, hiding whatever he was doing. When he ca out, he had acquired an intricately crafted stone bottle.
Soon, the great rchant left in a hurry too. He wore a kindly smile, making his way to a foreign rchant’s shop, where he found a mber of the Great Nobility from the city, and bowed respectfully.
"Honorable sir. Truly, the Guardian God has blessed today, for I have received a jar of fresh nectar. The hummingbirds have collected it from around the King’s garden; it should indeed be offered to soone as exalted as yourself."
With that, he bowed deeply, presenting the stone bottle filled with honey with both hands.
The mber of the Great Nobility was slightly surprised. He gestured towards his attendant. An experienced servant approached respectfully, bowed, took the stone bottle, examined the quality of the honey for a mont, then leaned in close, reporting softly to the noble.
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