North and South groceries

A few days later, Qiao Junlin received a letter from Hou Lin, in addition to some daily greetings and exhortations, he also told him about an incident in the court recently.

Earlier, the sage intended to build a cement road in Hexi. Many officials in the court opposed it, and some agreed. It was almost time for the autumn harvest, but the two sides were still in dispute.

A few days ago, an official named Cen Wenwen wrote an official document eloquently, starting from the opening of the Western Regions by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, saying that the land of Hexi is a corridor connecting the Central Plains and the countries of the Western Regions, and its strategic significance is extraordinary. , Now that the world is peaceful and the world is home, it is just paving a cement road in Hexi, so how can you be stingy with money.Then there is a lot of quotations, presenting facts and reasoning.

The sage read this document, and said that Cen Aiqing's words were reasonable, and after praising Cen Wenwen in the court hall, he immediately made a decision on the road construction, and it would be useless for others to oppose it.

Luo Yong remembers the name Cen Wenwen. In the original history, Hou Junji returned to Chang'an City after he fought in the Western Regions. The judicial department at that time asked the court to punish Hou Junji for his crimes, and Hou Junji was sent to prison.

At that time, it was this Cen Wenwen who begged him and said something that seemed to make sense.

He didn't know much about Cen Wenwen, Luo Yong, but he knew that Li Shimin in the 14th year of Zhenguan, his control over the power in the court and the stability of his position were no longer the same as when he first came to power in the early years of Zhenguan. language.

The monarchy is stable, as long as it is what the emperor thinks in his heart, someone will definitely do what he likes and stand up to be his leader.On the contrary, if the prime minister is strong, then when the officials of the DPRK and China speak, they will inevitably have to look at the meaning of the powerful ministers.

In any case, it is a good thing that the imperial court decided to build cement roads in Hexi.

In a few days, there will be an official document, saying that this year, cement roads will be paved in Hexi, and that every prefecture and county will arrange civilian husbands nearby, and the convicts will be replaced. Once in place, the local government has to send the civilian husband to them.

As for the number of peasants needed, it varies from place to place, and there are 300 of them in Changle County.

If one had served this corvee, one day would be worth three feet of silk, and if it was calculated as fine linen, it would be three feet and seven inches. In their borderland of Changle County, especially for the various towns under their jurisdiction It is said that ordinary people can't earn so much a day, especially if it's just to build roads, it's not too hard, and it's not far from home.

As soon as the news spread, many people in the county said that their family had no cloth this year, and they would lose their jobs.

In fact, this corvee service is not a good thing, the reason why the people in the city are like this is just because they feel sorry for Qian Bo.

In their place in Changle County, cloth and silk are really hard to come by. Mulberry trees can’t be grown, let alone silkworms and silk reeling. There are not many fields of that kind of hemp. Tax plus one plus, is also quite heavy.

After working hard all year round, after paying taxes, most people don't have much surplus.It's pretty good in this county, but it's even more difficult in the countryside.

These [-] quotas were finally distributed to the Fangzheng Lizheng, who were allowed to make arrangements according to the circumstances of the registered households under their respective jurisdiction.

Most of these small officials in Fangzhengli are highly respected local people. They play a role in communication and connection between the local government and the local people. Although the officials are not big, their functions are very important.

In the past two days, the county will start to collect taxes soon. During this period, the squares and squares are going to be busy again.

Before starting to collect taxes, Luo Yong gathered all the officials and servants in the county government, held a mobilization meeting, and ordered a few tables of good food from the restaurant on the street for everyone to have a good meal. Let them go to work in the countryside.

As for Luo Yong himself, he is a mobile unit and sits in the county government. If there is any problem that cannot be settled, he can come to him.

There shouldn’t be any problems. Changle County is only this big in total. Including the registered households that were added a while ago, there are only more than 200 households in total. Those poor households that are not registered households were also cleared up last year. Yes, this year, we just need to keep it.

In the days that followed, Luo Yong sat in the county office every day to see the progress of the work they handed in, and put a plate of fried beans on the table, crackling and crackling.

The weather has been getting colder and colder recently, and the magistrate of Luo County feels hungry all day long, but Changle County in the seventh century AD is just a small yellow mud city, nothing serious, not even a dried sweet potato, a majestic county If you are hungry, you can only eat beans. The beans are fried with some maltose. The taste is not bad, but if you eat too much, you will lose your breath.

"You don't want to eat this all the time, you may break your teeth." Erniang wanted to talk about him when she saw him.

In this day and age, there is no place to see a dentist. If a tooth is broken, there is no place to replace it. If it is missing, it is missing, and it will be so missing for a lifetime.

"I'm always craving something to eat." County Magistrate Luo said.

Then the next morning, Luo Erniang brought a basket of food to the county government office. There was a plate of sprinkles, a plate of red date cake, and a whole stewed chicken.

County Magistrate Luo accepted the basket to eat, and was so happy that he couldn't see his teeth. He closed the door and sat in the room to eat slowly.

The reason why the door was closed was to guard against the children of the county magistrate and the chief book's family.

Except for Luo Yong, the county magistrate, and Guo Fenglai, the county magistrate, these officials in the yamen all had families. This time, most of them brought their wives and children with them. The county magistrate even brought a concubine with him.

I heard that in other places, most of the county magistrates do not live in the county office, because the county magistrate usually has a large family and has no land for others to live in. Those county magistrates are basically on their own. Find a yard in the city, or rent or buy.

But Changle County is a frontier place after all. When they lived in the county government, they didn't want to move out. Later, they were scared by those big cannibals, and they didn't want to move out.Luo Yong didn't want to drive people away. It would be deserted if only he and Qiao Junlin lived in such a big county.

There are many people living here, and it is very lively. The children running in and out on weekdays are also very cute.

It would be even cuter if they didn't look at Luo Yong with those black grape-like eyes and ask him: "Magistrate, what are you eating?"

Since that day, Luo Erniang would bring some food to Luo Yong almost every day.

She had always thought that Luo Yong was too thin, and there were so many things in the county that he needed to worry about, but seeing that he was rarely willing to let herself be free, she was also happy for him.

Isn't it just some food, and how much can you eat? The two cashmere workshops of hers add up to enough people to feed, and he is still missing?

"Sister, do you have enough money and silk?" On this day, Luo Yong asked Luo Erniang.

Luo Erniang's cashmere workshop has recruited so many people, and they have to eat and pay wages, so they have to spend a lot of money every month. In addition, since she started the cashmere workshop, she has purchased a lot of cashmere workshops. Cashmere, which is also a lot of money.

However, not many Hu merchants came to them this year, and her cashmere workshop is only producing and not selling. If it takes a long time, I am afraid that the capital chain will be broken.

"It's okay, at least I can last for another year and a half, you don't need to worry about me." Er Niang found a seat and sat down, poured another cup of tea to eat.

"But it was shipped from Liangzhou City?" Luo Yong asked her.

"No." Luo Erniang swallowed a sip of tea, waved her hand and said, "I don't know how much manpower and material resources will be spent on transporting it from Liangzhou City, it's not worthwhile."

"Then where did your money come from?" Luo Yong became a little curious. He thought that if his sister had no money, she would definitely get it from Liangzhou City. Is there any other channel?

"You don't know that, do you?" Luo Erniang smiled, and said to Luo Yong: "This year, because of the war in Gaochang, the business roads were blocked, and the Hu merchants from the Western Regions all stopped coming."

"I know that." Luo Yong answered.

"This business road is blocked, not only is our life difficult here, but many Hu merchants in Dunhuang have lost their supply, so there is no business to do this year." Luo Erniang said again.

"So what?" Luo Yong understood a little bit in his heart at this moment.

"This place in Hexi is like this. It is hungry and full year after year. There are a few merchants in Dunhuang who plan to go to Chang'an City to do business. I heard that Chang'an City is very rich. Everyone in Chang'an spends a lot of money and is very stable. Peaceful." Luo Erniang took another sip of tea as she spoke, "They plan to buy a batch of cashmere sweaters and trousers for me to take to Chang'an City, and the price has been agreed."

"Shipping from Liangzhou City?" Luo Yong asked with a smile.

"Exactly." Luo Erniang said with a smile: "I said let them give me the money and silk directly, and then I will write a letter with them, and then I will pick up the goods directly in Liangzhou City with the letter, but they If you don’t believe me, I’m going to send a steward to go with them, and they’re discussing these two days.”

"Then what are your plans?" Luo Yong asked her.

"If they really don't want to, then I have no choice but to arrange a steward to go with them. The money and silks taken from here will save time and effort compared to Baba bringing the money and silks from Liangzhou City." Luo Erniang replied. explain.

"I have a solution to this matter." Luo Yong said with a smile.

"What can you do?" Luo Erniang asked him.

"Those Hu businessmen don't want to believe you. In the final analysis, it's just because you have a reassuring token between you." Luo Yongyan said.

"Do you have anything on hand that can be used as a token?" Luo Erniang said with a smile, "Bamboo sticks are not acceptable."

"Wait here, I'll show you when I go back to the room." Luo Yong said, put the uneaten sprinkle back on the plate, and picked up a cloth towel on the table to wipe his hands. Then I took things.

After a moment.

"...What is this?" Luo Erniang took a round bead and shone it again and again on the light coming in from the window.

Why are these beads so transparent?It looks like there is no impurity at all.

What is that red thing in there?How did this get in there?

"Use these first, I don't have enough." Luo Yong picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of braised chicken liver from a plate on the table, and ate it.

Luo Erniang bought a few chickens with someone yesterday, and killed them early this morning. She made soup with the girls in the cashmere workshop, fried the chicken hearts, gizzards, and intestines, and added a dish to the stewards in the workshop. , only the chicken liver was left.

Luo Yong loves to eat chicken liver, and he loved it very much in the 21st century, but at that time chicken was eaten with too many hormones and antibiotics, and the liver was an organ for detoxification, so he didn't dare to eat it.

The plate in front of him at the moment is all natural and pollution-free free-range chicken livers...

"...Why don't you speak, I ask you where did this thing come from?" Luo Erniang asked.

"It happened by chance, sister, don't ask any more questions, just ask if you want it or not?" Luo Yong said.

"Yes, why not." Luo Erniang quickly put away the things.

As far as these beads are concerned, no one else can imitate them. It is safe to use them as tokens for buying and selling cashmere sweaters, but...

"Your bead, no one else has it?" Luo Erniang confirmed.

"Probably not." Luo Yong really couldn't guarantee whether there were other traversers, but he felt that the possibility should be very small.

"Then I'll use it." Such a rare thing, if others can really take out a lot, and go to her cashmere workshop to change into cashmere sweaters and pants, then she will recognize it.

"What do you think those people will do if they don't know my beads?" What if those Hu merchants took these beads directly to Chang'an City and didn't go to Liangzhou City to pick up the goods at all?

"Then you can set the price of this bead higher." Luo Yong gave her an idea:

"The red ones represent fifty sets of cashmere sweaters, the green ones represent a hundred sets, and the yellow ones represent a thousand pairs of socks. You see, there are also two-color and three-color socks..."

As Luo Yong talked, he imagined in his mind that when these people from the Tang Dynasty showed off their wealth in the future, they would be able to take out a glass marble from their waist——

"Wow! Purple beads! These are a thousand sets of cashmere sweaters!"

"What's the matter, look at me."

"What! You actually have a two-color bead in your hand."

"Hmph, rare is more strange."

"My God! Three-color! If you are alive, you can see the three-color bead once, and you will die without regret!"

To be honest, Luo Yong is not worried at all that someone will miss the beads and refuse to pick up the goods. He still has a lot of this kind of glass marbles in his hand.

When he was young, he played marbles with the neighbors, and he always won and won. He won more than a dozen tin biscuit boxes, which are half the height of a person when stacked. He is nostalgic and loves things. I brought them all, and they are all piled up in the space right now.