North and South groceries

The city wall in Changle County has been repaired for almost a winter, and now it is basically repaired, leaving only some finishing work.

This time, Luo used the original foundation to build the city wall, and expanded Changle County a little.

Changle County leans against the mountains in the south, and there is a large barren beach outside the city in the north. This time, they enclosed part of the barren beach in the city, next to the workshop area, which is mainly used as one of the lands reserved for urban development. use.

If the workshop area in the northwest needs to expand in the future, it can be extended to this barren beach at that time, and with the increase of population, some homesteads need to be reserved in advance.

Previously, due to the shortage of money and food, the old county magistrate Tan and the magistrate of the county prime minister advised Luo Yong not to expand the city, but to rest up the city wall a little on the original basis.

Luo Yong is usually quite talkative and willing to listen to people's persuasion, but this time he refused to follow their advice.

When he was rummaging through the space for relevant information on the battle between Tang and Gaochang earlier, he also learned that there were several wars between Tang and Turks and Xue Yantuo in the years after this war.

The reason why the Central Plains sent a large army to the northwest so decisively this time is that the power of the Western Turks has grown in recent years. The Tang Dynasty and the Turks are old enemies. And how willing to let it develop and grow.

Under such circumstances, there are wars on the frontier from time to time, and the situation on the Hexi Corridor is bound to be more sensitive and tense, and people's livelihood is also difficult.

Like now, they let go of their hands and feet to overhaul the city wall. After this time, they don't know when they will wait until the next time. So since they have repaired this time, they should simply consider the long-term and repair it better.

The county magistrate and others always said that this barren beach was too big, but it seemed to Luo Yong that it was not big at all, and how big it could be. After all, this Changle County was just a small town composed of about [-] households.

In the eyes of those gentlemen from Chang'an City, this Changle County is also very small. After all, Chang'an City is so big, and a street is hundreds of meters wide, which is incomparable to other places.

But in Changle County, although sparrows are small and well-equipped, the people's livelihood is not considered poor. Compared with some towns they passed along the way, the situation is much better.

When these young gentlemen were eating at a restaurant in the city, a soldier at the gate of the city who had just seen their guide had already reported the matter to Guo Fenglai, and Guo Fenglai went to report it to Luo Yong.

Luo Yong was also very happy to hear that these people had arrived. Although the number of people was somewhat different from the news from Chang'an City, since they were still thinking about sitting outside for dinner, the rest of them would be fine if they thought about it. Turn around and go back to Chang'an.

Thinking back, Luo Yong and his party also suffered a lot on the way from Chang'an City to Changle County. Now that there is another war, it is not surprising that some people will retreat.

After these young gentlemen had eaten their meals in the restaurant, as soon as they went out of the gate, they saw an officer waiting outside the door, and said in their mouths:

"The county magistrate heard that you gentlemen have just arrived in Changle County, and Ling is waiting here to lead the way with you gentlemen."

"Thank you." These young gentlemen said politely.

If it was in the past, they would not be so polite to the local servants. It's just that they have gone through a lot of things along the way, and their behavior is somewhat different from the past.

"You gentlemen, this way."

"good."

Changle County is not big, and it is only a few steps away from this street to the government.

The guard led a few young gentlemen to walk in front, and their carriage servants followed behind. After months of long journeys, the group of people probably looked tired and dusty.

There were people coming and going on the street, and from time to time, some vendors driving donkey carts and carriages hurried past them, raising a cloud of dust, and there was the sound of rushing water from a canal beside the street.

Going forward, you will see the gate of the mansion. Next to the mansion is the tofu workshop. A little further up the tofu workshop, there is a well with two waterwheels on it. Two teenagers are stepping on the waterwheels. He was still yelling: "Why hasn't it been an hour yet?" A group of half-sized children below were laughing and laughing.

After entering the gate of the public mansion, what greets the eyes is a square courtyard, which is quite simple, but clean and tidy.

At this time, a person came out from the front hall, slightly taller and thinner.

Among these young gentlemen, several people have met Luo Yong before. When this man was in Chang'an City, he produced examination papers, opened a grocery store, made ice warehouses, planted peppers, and even made cream cakes. He is humble, but he can be regarded as a romantic figure.

He is also good-looking, smiling all day long, and when the little ladies in Chang'an City gather, they will often mention this person.

Looking at it now, it is a little different from before. She is a little taller and thinner, probably because she is too thin, her cheekbones are a little protruding, and her temperament is a bit more sharp compared to before.

Luo Yong invited them to the hall and made them serve hot tea and snacks. He first welcomed their arrival, and then asked if they had any difficulties at the moment, saying that if they encountered any problems in Changle County in the future, Come to him anytime.

Seeing that these people's spirits are not very good, so Luo Yong didn't say much, and directly led them to the academy building, let them settle down first, and rest for a few days. After the city wall was repaired, their academy should almost school starts.

No one can say for sure what is going on in Gaochang right now, and the preparations that should be made have to continue to prepare.

Fortunately, with the large amount of grain brought by the Mawang Zhao family from Zhangye and other places, and Luo Yong's recent sale at a discount, there will still be a lot of grain left in the palace after the city wall is repaired.

People from Mawang Zhao's family sell grain and Luo Yong, but they don't want money and silk. What they want is bacon and white wine. Luo Yong is also very straightforward this time, and he gave them a very low price, which is basically very close. at cost price.

However, the delivery date is set quite late, as long as the delivery is before next year's autumn harvest, this gives Changle County a considerable buffer space.

"With the war together, I am afraid that few Hu merchants are willing to come in the coming year."

On this day, Luo Yong was checking the government's recent money and silk expenditures, when the old county magistrate Tan suddenly sighed, and then said something like this.

"..." Luo Yong put down the account book in his hand, thought for a while, but didn't know what to say.

For a small border town like Changle County, it is not easy to preserve itself in the turbulent situation. When a war is fought, the painstaking accumulation of the predecessors often turns into smoke in an instant. It is not easy to prosper and prosper. It is very difficult, but how can this prosperity last for a long time?

"Master, are you here?" At this time, someone outside the door asked.

"Come in." Luo Yong said.He is not the only one in this room now, the old county magistrate Tan and the county magistrate are all there, but these few people come and go every day, and they get to know each other very well after a long time Now, if you see your disciples occasionally, there is no need to avoid them.

"This is a new steel needle that came out today." The disciple who entered the room handed Luo Yong the pottery plate he was holding in his hand.

I saw a few embroidery needles of different sizes placed in the pottery plate, compared with the embroidery needles of later generations, they looked much rougher.

Luo Yong took it over and looked at it, and thought it was okay, picked up an embroidery needle and broke it hard, breaking it into two pieces.

"No." Luo Yong shook his head, how could such a fragile needle be sold.

"I don't think it will work either." The disciple also said, "I just want to show it to the master. I have to think carefully about which step went wrong."

"Maybe it's a matter of materials." Luo Yong expressed his conjecture.

The production of this embroidery needle is basically the steps of frying steel, forging, drawing small holes, cutting, grinding, quenching, and tempering.

But how to make such a small steel needle, but also ensure its toughness and hardness, is a very difficult task for craftsmen of this era.

"I'm afraid we have to start from scratch with the material selection and fried steel." The disciple nodded.

"Go and do your work, you don't need to report to me all the time." Luo Yongyan said.If he is concerned about the progress, he can go over and see by himself, it's only a few steps away anyway.

"Here."

This time, Luo Yong didn't use it as the official camp of Changle County, but asked one of his disciples to run the needle workshop.

Although Luo Yong is the county magistrate of Changle County, he is not obliged to keep earning money for public use. The development of Changle County depends on the joint efforts of the people in the county and government officials. The right way is to develop the economy and increase tax revenue. Instead of relying on government departments to go to sea to do business in person.

These disciples came all the way to Changle County to follow Luo Yong. Although it was out of the friendship between master and apprentice, Luo Yong could not let them suffer.

What's more, only when all these disciples develop one by one, Luo Yong can have greater power.Now he is no longer the Luo Sanlang who just wanted to live a stable life. Now that he has the heart to enter the world, it is absolutely impossible without his own strength.

After the disciple left, the old magistrate Tan and the county magistrate in the house also came over to take the embroidery needle to look at. It was light and did not break.

"That's pretty good, why can't it be sold?" Xian Cheng and the others said after seeing it.

"Compared to some fine needles on the market, it's not bad."

"I heard that those needle workshops are ancestral crafts, passed down from generation to generation, and they are not willing to let outsiders learn them."

"It's very rare for your disciple to be able to do this for the first time on this trip."

"It's still not ready." Luo Yong said with a smile.Although there is no ancestral craftsmanship in his disciple's family, he has his master who copied books for him from the 21st century.

This disciple has good patience, and he is willing to put in the effort to ponder it, and he has Luo Yong to help him. In time, he should be able to make embroidery needles of higher quality.If only embroidery needles of this ordinary quality can be produced, then in the end, probably only an ordinary workshop can be run, which is not what Luo Yong wants to see.

It is useless to keep this plate of embroidery needles, so Luo Yong asked some family members present to take a few to use at home. Although the quality is still a bit poor, but for free things, just take some home and use. It is still possible.

So all the officials present took some, and the old county magistrate Tan also took a few back.

The old wife of the old county magistrate Tan is also used to being frugal, so she was very happy to see him bring back so many needles today.

Hearing that Luo Yong thinks the quality of this needle is not good, and wants to ask his disciples to make better needles, the old lady said: "This is a great merit."

It is not easy for ordinary people to earn money. They cherish the one or two embroidery needles at home, store them carefully, and use them carefully.If it is broken, I don't know how uncomfortable and pity it is.

If Luo Yong's disciple could really make more durable embroidery needles, they would sell for a similar price.For many financially constrained families, this is a very good thing.