North and South groceries

The weather has been fine these few days, so Aunt Luo invited craftsmen to come over and slightly repair the front and back yards.

When the original owner built this yard, he also spent a lot of money. The pillars and beams were all made of good wood, and the roof was covered with tiles instead of thatch like some houses in the city.

By the time Aunt Luo and the others took over, the roof tiles were already a little sparse, and some side rooms also leaked.

Aunt Luo bought some more tiles to add to it, and asked the craftsmen who picked up the tiles to tidy up the tiles on the roof again.

There is nothing else that needs a big rest, only the oyster ash in the corner is peeling off, buy some oyster ash and adjust the water to make up, and then wipe some yellowed and dirty walls.

The local people often use oyster ash to paste the walls, and paste them on the outside of the wooden structure, not the whole house, but only three or four feet along the bottom of the wall. I don't know whether it is because of the weight of the building or the cost.

After laying the tiles and plastering the oyster ash, I bought a few loads of cement with the cement merchant, and paved the ground inside and outside the courtyard, and the house is roughly considered to be rested.

Those wooden structures basically don't need to be moved, and the beams and pillars still look very strong now, but the wooden floor on the second floor is not very good and needs to be repaired and replaced.

After this rest, with white walls and black tiles, this shop looks much more energetic than before.

Then hang a signboard on the gate and write the words "Auntie's Food Shop", and the Wuxian branch of the Auntie's Restaurant will be officially opened.

Aunt Luo made two stone mills, hired a few strong women, and made tofu in the yard behind the shop.

In the days to come, every morning before dawn, neighbors who got up early brought beans and white rice to their shop to exchange for tofu, and some brought silk silk cocoons. Aunt Shiluo and the others took all these things, but the only thing that made them a little The headaches are those fresh fish.

People often fish fish and shrimp from the river and come to my sister's restaurant to exchange for tofu. Aunt Luo and the others don't like river seafood very much, but their shop has just opened for a short time, so it's not easy to do a ready-made business. Yes, I actually received a lot.

If someone wanted these fish and shrimp that day, they would be asked to exchange them that day, and most of the rest would be used as rations for Aunt Luo and the others. The freshwater fish is rubbed with coarse salt, marinated, and hung up to dry into dried fish. As for how and when these dried fish will be eaten, who knows.

After the tofu business got off the ground, Aunt Luo and the others freed up their hands to quickly make the fish balls, and the dried fish in the yard stopped growing.

The price of fresh fish in Wu County is cheap, and the consumption level of the local people is relatively limited, so in Chang'an City, you can sell fish balls for two pennies a bunch, but here you can only sell them for one penny, but they are smaller than those in Chang'an City. slightly smaller.

Moreover, Mrs. Luo and the others have increased the proportion of fish meat to the greatest extent after many experiments. That's true, it tastes like fish meat after one bite.

In addition to fish balls, tofu, and jujube bean cakes, they also sell brine, but it is not the red brine sold in Chang'an City, but white brine that caters to the lighter taste of the locals.

In addition, there are dumplings and other food, which will be made and sold in the following days.

It’s just that the dumplings they made this time might be more suitable called Xiaolongbao. Although they are not made of dough, they are basically shaped like small buns. Some cornstarch and glutinous rice flour are added to the skin of the buns. It is crystal clear when steamed, and there is a soup made from pork bone and pig skin inside. The taste is very delicious, and most of the locals also prefer it.

It costs one penny for a string of stewed dumplings, and two pennies for a cage of steamed buns. Some people only buy half a cage, which is fine.

Although the food in their shop is priced in copper coins, in fact, most of what they receive is grain, rice, noodles, silk and cocoons. People in the city go to their shop to exchange tofu, so they use more grain to buy other slightly more expensive food. Just use silk cocoons.

Most of the silk is not good silk, mainly some brains, twisted into a small ball, can not be used for weaving, can only be wadding in clothes and shoes, such silk thread is also called cotton.

In summer and autumn, when merchants from the Central Plains came to collect silk from them, no matter whether it was the highest quality silk or the lowest quality cotton, they were all willing to accept it, but the prices were different.

In Changle County, where Luo Yong is currently located, the local economy depends to a large extent on those Hu merchants who come and go.

Aunt Luo is in Wu County. Although this place is a land of fish and rice, the local people also rely on the big merchants in the Central Plains if they want to get rich and develop. Better than Changle County, Wu County is not just a city by the canal , Occupying a favorable location, they also have their own specialties, which can produce high-quality silk threads and silks.

As for tea, it has not developed much at present. The tea ceremony that flourished among the gentry at this time in the early Tang Dynasty is very different from that of later generations. In the process of making tea, tea is basically just a blind ingredient.

In the Jiangnan area before, it was not heard that anyone planted tea trees on a large scale to open up tea gardens. Mostly, some local people picked the leaves of tea trees on the mountain and exchanged them for some money at the medicine shop.

Earlier in Hexi, there was news that Hu merchants and local herdsmen liked tea. There were also some wealthy households in Wu County who planned to open tea gardens. However, the situation in Hexi became tense at the end of last year. The Turks fought.

Once there is a war in the northwest, not only merchants from the Western Regions will not come to their Datang side, but even merchants from the Central Plains will not go there.In this way, the tea business will probably be delayed. At this moment, tea planting, I don't know when will I have to wait until I can make money?

Aunt Luo was also worried about the situation in Hexi. She was worried that the war would reach Changle County and hurt Luo Yong's life, and she was also worried that the war would make Changle County's economy depressed and the population could not grow. Luo Yong would not be able to make achievements locally. Can't go back to Chang'an City.

Luo Yong wrote to her earlier, saying that the baijiu business can make a profit for a while, and the tea business can bring more long-term development to the local area.

Now that there is a war in Hexi, the price of grain must be much higher than usual, and even if Luo Yong is rich, it is not good to buy grain and make wine at this time.And the tea business, I don't know what to do.

Fortunately, Erniang has been operating in Hexi for many years, so she should be able to help out now.

In the past two years, Mrs. Luo also wanted to understand a truth, no matter how capable her brother is, in this vast country, he is still weak in front of those noble families, princes and ministers.

Now that the Luo family has come out of Naxipo Village, and since Luo Yong has become an official, they can no longer focus on living a stable life. The last time Luo Yong was pushed out of Beijing, this time it was Hexi who started the war , next time I don't know what wind and rain will be waiting ahead.

You can't let Luo Yong stand in front of them every time to protect them from the wind and rain.

In the past two years, in addition to her business operations, Aunt Luo has also begun to consciously select and train her subordinates.

Not all women are willing to spend their lives living in daily necessities. Mrs. Luo hires them, trains them, and even solves many family problems for them, wins them a certain freedom, and spreads out a new era in front of them. life picture scroll.

Aunt Luo wrote to Erniang Luo earlier that she had quite a few good players under her command, and this was not an exaggeration.

Now that she brings a few people to Wu County to develop a new store, the business in Chang'an City is still booming, the business is booming, and people's hearts are stable. Big business, even look at it with envy.

In a blink of an eye, it was the sixth month of the lunar calendar. In the middle of June, a group of merchants from Lishi went north after harvesting this year's tea in the south. They entered the canal at Qiantang and went north. When passing through Wu County, they heard that Mrs. Luo had opened a restaurant in Wu County. , then disembarked and went to her shop.

In the spring of this year, war broke out in Hexi. Many merchants knew that tea trading was profitable, but they dared not accept it at this time. Only these merchants from Lishi were still aggressively buying tea from various places in the south.

Aunt Luo has been running business in Chang'an City for several years. If you talk about these Lishi merchants, she may be more familiar with them than Luo Yong, and she has more contacts.

Ma Silang, Wang Huaijin, and others did not go south this year, but stayed in Changle County. Aunt Luo heard some other people who had been to Changle County say something about Hexi, and she listened to everything. I had a good time, and I prepared a lot of food with them, as well as some signature dishes from the Xu's guest house in the past, and made them for them to eat.

These Lishi merchants have been wandering outside all year round, and it is inevitable that they miss their hometown. At this time, they can't help but feel very cordial when they eat the dishes from Lishi's hometown.

Aunt Luo said that she had been here in Wu county for the past two years, and asked them to pass by here next time and come back to her, and everyone readily agreed.

When parting, Mrs. Luo asked them to help her bring a package to Changle County.

Inside the bundle was a letter, two sets of robes, and a few pairs of cotton socks. These clothes and socks were all the best fabrics Aunt Luo bought from the shops on this street, and they were collected in her own shop. The silk floss that came was stitched out one stitch at a time.

I heard that they are going to take the north road this year, but not in Chang'an City, so Aunt Luo didn't let them bring letters to Si Niang and others in Chang'an City.

Si Niang and the others stay in Chang'an City, they always have enough food and clothing, Ah Zhi is also careful, and they are also very devoted to Si Niang and Wu Lang. Before she left Chang'an City, Aunt Luo entrusted those few Ah Zhi, besides, she also met Wang Dang and Chen Qi, and said hello to the Ma family, and even made a special trip to Baifu.

None of the men in the Bai Mansion were there that day, and the grandmother of the Bai family received her. The old lady comforted her and said:

"Don't worry, ma'am, let alone our Bai family. The saint cherishes the talent of your family, Saburo, and there is a deep meaning in sending him to Changle County. He will not just stand by and watch his young siblings being murdered in Chang'an City." kill it."

After sending away these Lishi merchants, Mrs. Luo still does business every day. If there are some seasonal fruits in the local area that are ripe and can be canned, she will buy them back and make batches of canned food, and put them in the empty rooms in the backyard. in the house.

But she didn't know that Chang'an City was also very lively at this time, because Hu merchants brought many fine needles from Changle County.

The needles are both fine and durable, they can be broken by hand continuously, and they only cost one penny each, and many people in the city went to buy them one after another.

There are also some well-informed people who heard that in Changle County, you can buy three of these thin needles for a penny.

The needles are long or short, thick or thin, and of various sizes. I heard that they all have the same price in Changle County.

For a while, everyone was looking forward to it, and some bold traders packed their bags and went to Changle County, regardless of the ongoing war in Hexi.

——Isn’t the war a matter of Gaochang State? What’s the matter with Changle County? They just went to buy a needle and came back after buying it.