Firmament

A good man in the wrestling ring.

- Mongolian proverb

Legend has it that there was originally a pomegranate orchard in Niu Street. People called this short street Durian Street. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, some ethnic groups from Central and West Asia have lived here. In 996, during the reign of the Khitan Kingdom, the parishioners living here raised funds to build a worship temple on Durian Street in order to facilitate collective worship. The worship temple combines the architectural style of the Central Plains palace and the architectural style of Arabia and Iran, with unique shape and extraordinary momentum, and is famous at home and abroad for a while. Faithful people have always liked to live around the mosque, so more and more parishioners are living on Durian Street. They set up shop and do business here, forming a very thriving market. The people are good at cooking beef and mutton, and the beef they make is very delicious, and they are famous in the capital, plus the homonym of "cow" and "pomegranate".

Ali has been in business since he was a child and is very business-conscious. He turned a large house on the street into a shop and started his old business. Perhaps it was the experience gained in Samarkand, or perhaps the Salta people had a talent for doing business, and Ali's shop came from behind to become the number one shop in Cattle Street. Business is booming.

Ali often sits under the big locust tree in the courtyard and leisurely drinks gaiwan tea. During the day, he took out the precious pebble and rubbed it gently while chatting with Sauron and his children, telling them stories about the events that had taken place in the Khorezm Empire, and in the evening he lay alone on a wicker chair, looking up at the stars shining in the firmament, remembering and remembering his friends and relatives who had become impermanent.

One day, Ali's youngest son, Arslan, came home from the street crying.

Ali saw that Arslan's hair was messy and his clothes were covered with muddy water, and it was estimated that the child had not controlled the heat when he was playing, so he beckoned Sauron to quickly wash Arslan's face and change into clean clothes.

Seeing Arslan's embarrassed appearance, Sauron hurriedly dropped his work, took out clean clothes and changed them for him, then poured warm water into the soup bottle (the kettle used by Muslims for washing), poured it into the palm of his hand, and gently scrubbed Arslan's face.

Sauron told Arslan, "Look you're a mess! Remember?".

Arslan argued aggrievedly: "Grandma, I didn't go to play in the muddy soup!".

Ali reprimanded, "Didn't you play in the muddy soup? Where did the muddy water on your face and body come from? Could it be that the muddy water flew on you on its own?"

Arslan waited until Grandma had finished washing herself, and then walked over to Ali step by step. Long eyelashes were covered with sparkling teardrops. The little mouth is so high that it can almost hang an oil pot.

Arslan explained: "Ada, I caught crickets with Hussein and Mustafa on the edge of the creek ditch, and we didn't provoke anyone. Later, a few big dolls on East Street came and insisted that we leave immediately, and scolded us for being wild seeds from Fanguo!".

When Ali heard this, he immediately became angry, stood up suddenly, and asked loudly: "Is it a doll from a newly moved Beizhou family on East Street?" Two days ago, they came to our store to sneakily look east and west, and did not buy anything for half a day. How come these wild people in Beizhou don't know how to educate their dolls! I went to them to reason. "

Sauron hurriedly tugged at Ali's sleeve and persuaded him, "You know that they are savages, why do you want to meet them in the same way? "

Ali asked puzzledly: "Why has the arrogance of your steppe people wilted these days?"

Sauron said with a smile: "The pride of the steppe people is used in national affairs. Dolls fighting is a trivial thing, and it is also a commonplace. Adults don't care. "

Ali snorted unconvinced.

Sauron smiled and asked, "What are you humming? How did the Khwarazm Empire come to an end? It's that your king, Ashidin, is too narrow-minded and indiscriminately kills the merchants of our steppe country and delays the country's affairs." "

Ali's eyes widened and he shouted at Sauron, "You are not allowed to slander the Khwarazm Empire!

For the first time, Sauron saw Ali being so angry with himself and hurriedly said, "Okay. Good. Don't slander. I don't slander. Arslan, grandma will take you to buy mutton. "

Ali watched Sauron lead Arslan out of the courtyard gate, and sat on the rattan chair under the big locust tree in a huff, and his excitement could not be calmed for a long time.

The residents of Niu Street come from all over the world. In normal times, everyone lives their own lives and lives in harmony. Occasionally, because of business disputes or fights between children, the conflicts between each other will instantly intensify, but it will not cause a fight between ethnic groups.

The title "outsider" is the most sensitive word in Ali's heart. Although he knows that his origin, appearance, and beliefs are very different from those of the locals, he also has a share of the credit of my Ali in today's hard-won country. I am also the founder and builder of this country. What's more, my son Nuhai is still on the front line to defend his family and country.

In order to forget the countless bloody and brutal killing scenes witnessed at the scene, get rid of those terrifying nightmares that endlessly haunt him, and redeem his deep conscience, Ali began to devote himself to studying religious scriptures in addition to carefully running the tea business, hoping to find the true meaning of life from it, and pray that he would devote himself to the Lord and return to the Lord in the second half of his life. Five times a day, he never fell back and forth and was extremely reverent. On the day of the Lord's day, Ali came to the Cow Street Mosque to pray and pray.

He made many friends at the mosque.

The language of the Sarta people is a mixture of steppe and Central Plains languages, which belongs to the same Iranian language family and is relatively close to Arabic. Therefore, Ali can freely talk with believers of different nationalities in the mosque, exchange learning experiences and experiences, learn about the latest developments in the outside world, and listen to the news about his hometown of Samarkand.

Abdullah was a merchant from Khorezm Bukhara. He came to Zhongdu after the westward expedition of the steppe army and the resumption of the east-west trade route, and ran the grain and spice business.

Abdullah told Ali: "The farmers of the Oriental country are industrious and intelligent, they cultivate the land intensively, and they take care of their crops as if they were their own children. "

Mousaviyah is a stall merchant from Qom, Iran. He transported the world-famous Iranian carpets to Zhongdu and sold them to the princes and nobles of the steppe country, and then purchased medicinal herbs and silk from here and shipped them back to his hometown Qom for sale.

Mousaviyah gave Ali a carpet from Qom.

Ali carefully examined the plant patterns on the carpet and found that it was very similar to the one in his former home in Samarkand, and could not help but say, "Your Iranian carpet is too similar to the carpet of the Khorezm Empire!"

Mousavier explained with a smile: "Iran and Khorezm have been a community with a shared future since ancient times, and they are naturally close in all aspects. However, each place still has its own characteristics. You see, our Iranian carpets are loved by people for their fine textures, simple and elegant patterns, and exquisite craftsmanship. An important feature is that the dyes are extracted from natural plants and minerals, and the color does not fade after dyeing. The composition is dominated by abstract plants, text from religious proverbs, and geometric patterns. The silk of Jiangnan in the Oriental country is magnificent in color, delicate in texture and elegant in style, and it is also unique and popular in the world. "

Mubarak was a porcelain merchant from Arabia. Every spring, he takes a ship from the port of Jeddah on the Red Coast to Jinmen along the Maritime Silk Road, and then transports it overland to Zhongdu, where he sells Arabian dates, woolen coats and other specialties. After spending the summer, he used the income to buy large quantities of Oriental porcelain and sell them back to Arabia.

On one occasion, Ali invited Mubarak to his home.

After greeting Ali, Mubarak sat down at an Iranian stall that Musaviyah had given to Ali.

Sauron served hot and fragrant Mongolian milk tea.

Mubarak picked up the teacup and looked at it for a while, and said with great certainty: "This is porcelain from Jingdezhen." "

Ali asked, "How so?"

Mubarak spoke eloquently:

"The Eastern Kingdom is the birthplace of porcelain and the best porcelain production area in the world. In addition to the five famous kilns of Ru kiln, Guan kiln, Ge kiln, Jun kiln, Ding kiln, Yaozhou kiln, Cizhou kiln, Jingdezhen kiln, Longquan kiln, Yue kiln, Jianyao.

"Yaozhou kiln products are exquisite, the fetal bone is very thin, and the glaze layer is uniform. Cizhou kiln uses magnet clay as a blank, so porcelain is also called magnetic. Cizhou kilns mostly produce porcelain with black flowers on a white background. The products of Jingdezhen kiln are light and thin, color-rich, and exquisite, and their whiteness and high transmittance are promoted as the representative of Oriental porcelain. Most of the products of Longquan kiln are pink or emerald green, and the glaze is beautiful and bright. The porcelain fired in the Yue kiln is thin and delicate, and the luster is beautiful. The black porcelain and black glaze produced by the kiln are as bright as lacquer. Ru kiln is the crown of the five famous kilns, and the glaze color of porcelain is light blue as the main color, and the color is clear and moist. The official kiln is the official kiln of Bianjing, which specializes in firing porcelain for the imperial court. There are many colored porcelains fired in Jun kilns, and the porcelain with carmine and green and ink color is also good. The porcelain produced by the kiln is fine, thin and bright, the porcelain color is moist, and the white glaze is like powder. "

Ali sighed and praised: "You, a foreign fanzi, when it comes to porcelain produced in the Orient, you are worthy of being a senior porcelain expert." "

Sauron and several of his sons and daughters also sighed, impressed by the learned Mubarak.

Mubarak smiled modestly: "It's over." I'm dancing an axe in front of a wooden door—I can't do it. "

Arslan interjected, "No. It's the class that gets the axe. "

Everyone burst out laughing.