North and South groceries

The farther you go west, the drier the weather, the less and less snow, and you can see patches of desert from time to time.

Luo used them to walk along the official road, and every time they reached a station, they would stop to rest and replenish some food and water, as well as fodder for the animals.

Luo Yong's previous worries seemed a little unnecessary. They traveled along the way, and from time to time some merchants and rich households from the surrounding areas would come to visit. People here generally welcomed Luo Yong's arrival.

In this way, although the road was hard, it was quite smooth. On the twelfth day of the first month of the 13th year of Zhenguan, Luo Yong and others arrived in Jinchang County, Guazhou Prefecture. Chen Jiao, the governor of Guazhou, warmly received them. On the thirteenth day of the first month, Luo Yong and others left Jinchang County and arrived in Changle County on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is another year of the Lantern Festival. Chang'an City, thousands of miles away, must be a bustling scene of fiery trees and silver flowers.

Luo Yong looked at the dilapidated and dilapidated Changle County Mansion in front of him, and said to Qiao Junlin and the others: "Let's live in the dormitory first. If we don't renovate this place, I'm afraid it won't be able to accommodate people."

I heard that the previous county magistrate of Changle County was very simple and clean, and was loved by the local people. A few months ago, because he was too old and in poor health, he fell ill and resigned under the persuasion of his family. Officer, and now their family still lives in Changle County.

The county magistrate was surnamed Tan, and he had three sons and two daughters. His son used to go to Liangzhou to sell goods with others in his early years. He bought cloth and silk from Liangzhou City, and then transported them to Dunhuang to sell to the Hu merchants there. It was quite profitable. Gao, after a few years, he also bought some land in Changle County, and now he is considered a wealthy household in the county.

When it comes to land, what can be grown in a place like Changle County, which is close to the desert and does not rain a few times throughout the year?

"We can plant some wheat, but the harvest is not very good." The locals who came to visit the new county magistrate told Luo Yong.

"You can grow beans, too."

"Last year, my manor planted corn, and it grew well."

"Your manor has been dug for more than half a year just to dig the canal. How can it compare with other places?"

"Can't grow corn anywhere else?"

"No, it's just that although this crop is highly productive, it also consumes a lot of land. If it is cultivated year after year, it will easily make the land barren."

Luo Yong also knows that corn is easy to deplete the soil, but right now, there is no better choice than corn.

In fact, sandy loam soil like this kind of arid area is the most suitable for planting sweet potatoes, but at this time he can't just take out the sweet potatoes in the space to plant.

In fact, at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the land was vast and sparsely populated. In places like Changle County, as long as the irrigation system was well established, it would not be a problem to feed the local people, whether it was wheat or corn.

Corn is too depleted of land, so they can still rotate crops. As long as there is enough land, this is not a big problem.

Luo Yong just came to Changle County for the past two days, and the county was very lively. After the excitement, its original desolation and barrenness appeared.

Yellow mud streets, adobe houses, even in the county seat, and on the only way of trade between China and the West, this city still has no prosperous scenes. It is said that those Hu merchants don’t stay here very much. Just passing by.

Those Zhao family members completed their escort mission, rested in Changle County for two days, and then went to Dunhuang.

It is rumored that Pei Ju once drew the "Illustrations of the Western Regions" for Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, in which there is a road map from Dunhuang to the countries in the Western Regions. It is said that there are four routes in total.

Dunhuang is a place with unique advantages. There are rivers, lakes and salt ponds. It is located between this large desert and the Gobi. The local people are quite rich and the commerce is also very developed.

In comparison, Changle County is much deserted.At the time of the Sui Dynasty, this place had already been abolished as Changle Town, and Changle County was restored in Wude five years ago. Because of the small population, the county was classified as a lower county. Not high.

In addition to the county magistrate Luo Yong, there are other officials in the county, such as the county magistrate, the master book, and the county lieutenant.

Luo Yong has just arrived here and is not familiar with these people, but as far as they are concerned, their attitude towards Luo Yong is quite respectful. The first task Luo Yong assigned to these people was to let them repair the county government together with him. .

Luo Yong is not a person who is very particular about ostentation, but the most basic office and living conditions must still be required.

The former magistrate of Tan County was really careless. The county government has not been repaired for an unknown period of time. The house was originally made of adobe. Over time, the soil layer peeled off, and the wheat straw on the roof began to rot. Snakes, insects, rats and ants breed.

Because he had just arrived, he didn't know much about the situation here, and he didn't want to make troubles when repairing the house these days, so Luo Yong didn't check the county's account books, didn't use the county's money, and took his own money directly. After sending people to buy rice, noodles and mutton, they came back and made work meals for everyone in the county government compound.

However, in the process of purchasing, something happened after all.On the first day, Luo Yong handed over the money to the county magistrate and asked him to arrange it, but the things he bought in the end were not comparable to the local market price.

Luo Yong didn't say anything, but he gave the money to the master book when he bought it for the second time. As a result, the things he bought this time were still not equal to the market price, and were several times more expensive than what the county magistrate bought. point.

Luo Yong still didn't say anything, and the third time he gave the money to the county magistrate, the county magistrate was the most ruthless, and with the same amount of money, what he bought back was less than half of the county magistrate's.

Luo Yong didn't say anything on the surface, and he still invited everyone to work and eat every day, but he went to buy things by himself in the future.

In addition, he asked Qiao Junlin to set up a bodyguard team in the name of repairing the house. The locals are not fools. Seeing his actions, they knew that the new county magistrate was going to fight against the county captain and others. Luo Yong's wages are sufficient and the food is good, so there are still brave people who come to apply for the job. Of course, there are some who are confused about the situation, just thinking that Luo Yong is recruiting them to ram the earth with mud.

When his team was pulled up, Luo Yong's courage became stronger, and then he wrote to the court, saying that the county lieutenants had misbehaved, and asked the official department to replace them again, and he went to the official post.

This book was intercepted before Chang Le was published. Don't look at it as a small broken city of yellow mud. There are not a lot of doorways here. The officials in the city are colluding, and it seems to be an unbreakable small system.

On this day, the county government was repairing the fence. Although everyone was busy, the atmosphere had become tense and delicate.

At noon, the former county magistrate Tan Weng came over with a cane, sat in the courtyard, drank a bowl of corn porridge, and told Luo Yong to be careful, beware of some people jumping over the wall in a hurry.

To put it bluntly, at the beginning, many people in the county welcomed Luo Yong's arrival and treated him with respect because he could make money and bring benefits to everyone.

Now that there is no benefit, Luo Yong will first lose their official positions, which is different from what they thought at the beginning.Why do you say greedy ink, and that little money is also called greedy ink?In this yamen, things have never been done like this.

I don't know if these people will jump over the wall in a hurry, but the people from the Zhao family are still in Dunhuang, and they probably don't dare to attack themselves at the moment.

On this day, Luo Yong gathered all the newly recruited youths today, as well as the original officials of the county government, and talked to them about the salary increase.

Three hundred wen per person per month, rice noodles, cloth and silk during festivals, and various bonuses for outstanding performance.

"As long as I, Luo, stay here in Changle County for one day, half of the salary will not be missing from you."

The effect of Luo's words was like a clap of thunder. They used to earn less than [-] Wen a month, but now they have risen to [-] Wen!

Men in the Northwest, who were they afraid of!Isn't it just the county lieutenants? County Magistrate Luo said they would do it, and they were just officials sent by the court. At most, they would add a few lackeys. I'm not afraid either.

Luo Sanlang's reputation in Lishi has always been very good. Since he said that he would send them [-] Wen a month, he didn't run away from the appointment, so don't worry about him going back on his word.

"A few days ago, I wrote an official document to go to Beijing, and it was suspected that it was detained privately. Today, you all will go to the post station with me to have a look."

Luo used these words lightly, and the county lieutenant and others not far away turned pale at this moment.

They only think that they have been operating in Changle County for many years, with deep foundations and complicated relationships. If they were able to get the magistrate of Tan Tan back then, they will definitely be able to get the magistrate of Luo today. Don't follow the rules of their land.

Never would they have thought that they have accumulated many years of hard work, but in the end, they can't make up for the words that money can make ghosts turn the millstones. There are nearly a hundred government servants, each with three hundred cash per month, and one month is thirty pennies. This coffin from Lishi Board, it's really a big deal!

Luo Yong glanced at those people, didn't say anything, and went straight to the station with a group of people.

Those who are sensible, should take advantage of this opportunity to flee for their lives. It is true that the sky is high in this place and the emperor is far away, lawless, and even dare to withhold the official documents of the imperial court officials.