North and South groceries

Luo Yong knew that Arabia was one of the origins of cotton, so he proposed to Hassan a deal with him for cotton seeds with the resources he had on hand.

Even if this species does not seem to have any advantage over silk and hemp in this era, Luo Yong knows its potential, and also knows that the problem of taking seeds, which is very difficult in the eyes of big cannibals, can actually be overcome through technical means of.

This is the advantage of being a traveler. Even if the world in front of him looks barren, he still knows which direction he should develop and work hard.

It's like mastering a treasure map in advance, he always knows where the treasure will be.

This afternoon, the old county magistrate Tan came to the mansion to find Luo Yong for tea, and talked to him about the construction of the canal by the way.

If there hadn't been a war in Gaochang this year, the wine shop would have saved a lot of money by selling baijiu. However, because of that war, not only did the baijiu not sell much this year, it was also given to the passing army. A lot of food was sent, which cost a lot.

Coupled with the fact that the tax revenue cannot be counted on, after a year of busy work, the government has not saved much money. It is obviously impossible to rely on these things to carry out a project as large as the canal.

"The canal will not be repaired for a while, and I will promote cotton first, and then I will use this thing for money." Luo Yong intends to use the money in his hand to promote cotton planting.

"Sanlang still needs to be careful." Hearing that Luo Yong was going to spend a lot of money on this thing that they had never heard of or seen before, the old county magistrate Tan said earnestly:

"Cotton, I have never heard of it before. I see that most of the clothes of those big food merchants are mainly hemp. If this cotton is really that good, why don't you see them all wearing it?"

The old county magistrate Tan's words are also very reasonable, but some things cannot be judged by common sense when it comes to Luo Yong.

"When they were dealing with cotton, they encountered a thorny problem. They didn't know how to solve it, but I knew the solution. Tan Weng didn't need to worry. When new cotton came out in the next year, I would make people make another bed A big thick and soft quilt will be given to you." Luo Yong said to him with a smile.

After hearing what he said, the old county magistrate Tan thought that cashmere was not very valuable in their place before. Ordinary people took it, and it had no other use except to stuff it into clothes and quilts.

How expensive their cashmere is now. The cashmere sweaters and pants woven by Luo Erniang's cashmere workshop come in various colors and patterns. They are not only warm, but also very beautiful.

Thinking about it this way, he felt that Luo Yong might really be able to make some new tricks out of the cotton from the Great Food Country.

So he asked Luo Yong: "Then how do you plan to promote it?"

"Let's start with the job field first." Luo Yong replied.

The number of cotton seeds in his hand is limited, and it is a new species, so it is more convenient to supervise and manage it on the job field.

At that time, if there are surplus seeds, some farmers who are good at farming will be found to plant them.

On the side of Zhitian, the tenants were grinding needles at home at this time, and they didn't know that Luo Yong planned to let them grow cotton.

Since the change of officials in the county, the lives of these tenants are much better than before. The new county magistrate understands the difficulties of these tenants and takes care of them.

They have been growing corn in the fields for the past two years, and after paying the rent, they still have a lot left over. So last year, many rural households approached them to exchange corn seeds. If there is new grain under it, if it is old grain, then there will be more.

The price of corn has dropped a lot this year, but it is still a little more expensive than wheat millet. These tenants are not willing to even eat wheat millet, let alone use these corn as rations. Most of them still have no corn seeds at home. The villagers have changed other miscellaneous grains, but the income is much less than last year.

"...I just feel uncomfortable after eating enough for two days, and I still think that there are mountains of rice and noodles at home, so I can eat so much..."

One day, Granny Rao was sitting under the stove to light a fire, while her daughter-in-law was busy working on the stove. Today her son-in-law came to the house, and Weng Rao asked them to cook some corn porridge for treats. What, so I sat under the stove and muttered in a low voice.

"Aniang, don't say a few words, so as not to be listened to by Shao." Her daughter-in-law persuaded.

"Just listen to it, how can he still be like an old woman like me?" Granny Rao said in this way, but her voice was lowered a little, and she was almost muttering: "I see him coming to the door all day long. I don’t know how to bring my son back to see Ye Niang.”

"From their town to our place, it takes a whole day to walk. Liu'er has three dolls, how can she come back often?" Her daughter-in-law's ears are very good.

"Oh... I said I shouldn't ask her to marry Ye Yuan."

"It's far away, but this Ah Shao is a good person. He is lively and hardworking. He must not make their wives suffer..."

"..."

The son-in-law of the Rao family named Ah Shao has dumped a lot of corn from Rao Weng and the others to the small town where his family lives in the past two years, earning some price difference. Move back and forth non-stop throughout the year.

After saving some money, he planned to move his family from the town to the county seat. During the past two days, he always talked about this with Rao Weng and the others.

When the two of them finished cooking and brought them in, they heard Ah Shao talking to Rao Dalang.

"...While the county magistrate of Luo is still in office, my brother and sister-in-law should have made plans early to get rid of their status as tenants and either buy some land or move to the city. When the time comes, our two families will support each other, and life will always be smooth." Get on with it..."

Sister-in-law Rao lowered her eyes and just helped them put the food on the table, even though she had a lot of thoughts in her heart, she didn't say a word.

When Naluo County Magistrate was still in their Changle County, they took off their identity as tenants. How could their family have never thought about this matter.

It's just that they can't buy land at all with the money they have in their hands. If ordinary people don't encounter natural disasters and man-made disasters and are too poor to survive, no one is willing to sell the land.Since the arrival of the Luo county magistrate, the life of the farmers in the countryside has become much better than before, so no one is willing to sell their land, and the land price is much higher than before.

Not to mention buying land, even a small yellow mud courtyard in Changle County will cost a lot of money to buy.

After buying that small courtyard, their family lived in the city, and they had to spend money to buy everything for food and clothing. When the year was good, they were not afraid. In case something like Gaochangguo happened last time , Food prices soared...

Ah Shao is not afraid of these things. There are several brothers in his family farming in the countryside, and he is the only one who adopts his uncle's house in the town and becomes a merchant.

His uncle had no heirs. At the time of adoption, none of Ah Shao's brothers were willing to go. In the end, Ah Shao was chosen. His parents and brothers owed him a lot. One day, if Ah Shao's family could not survive in the city , Brothers will not watch them starve to death.

The Rao family didn't have that kind of confidence, so Weng Rao had only one son and one daughter. If the son had no way to survive, would the whole family have to rely on the daughter for support?

After all, this is not a matter of a day or two...

"Why are there so many caravans entering the city in the past two days?"

Rao Weng was sitting in the house grinding needles, but when he saw that they brought the food, he scooped two scoops of hot water from the kang and washed his hands. When he finished washing his hands and went out to pour water, he saw that it was not far from his house. On the official road where it was located, groups of merchants were heading towards Changle County.

"It's very strange, most likely I went to buy needles." Granny Rao replied disapprovingly.

"Much more than usual?" Rao Weng's son-in-law who was called Ah Shao also went outside the door to have a look.

"It's more than half more than a few days ago." Rao Weng said to Shao.

Ever since the needle workshop in Changle County was established, there has been an endless stream of people coming to buy needles from them. Weng Rao would take a look at the official road to see what kind of clothes those people were wearing. Either on horseback or on camel.

"It doesn't look like it's in the nearby area." After squinting his eyes for a while, Ah Shao said, "It looks like a Hu merchant from outside the pass."

"Impossible, there is a war in Gaochang this year, and there are Hu merchants who dare to come?" Rao Dalang answered the conversation in the room.

"Come out and take a look." Ah Shao called him to come out and take a look.

"Don't eat the hot food and hot dishes, and then go outside to see what, those Hu merchants come and go all day, it's very interesting." Granny Rao was chanting again, and she kept chanting, these old people at home Xiao Xiao didn't listen to her, and they all ran out of the yard to see what happened, except for a greedy little grandson who was reluctant to leave around the dinner table.

"Yesterday, I felt that there were a lot more Hu merchants entering the city than before. I thought it was another group of Gaochang merchants. I never thought there would be so many merchants today."

"But come from Gaochang?"

"I don't know."

Rao Weng immediately asked his son to go into the house to get a bucket of hot water, and asked his son-in-law to carry some rough clay bowls, and then went to the official road.

Rao Weng walked to the side of the official road and poured hot water out of wooden barrels for the passing Hu merchants to drink. Some Hu merchants refused to drink, and some Hu merchants drank.

On this cold day, when walking outside, the cold wind blows for the whole day. It is good to have a bowl of hot water at this time, but some people don't trust Rao Weng and others, so they refuse to drink it.

Rao Weng chatted with those Hu merchants, asking where they came from, and why there were so many merchants going to Changle County in the past two days.

Among them was a Hu businessman who could speak Chinese, but the accent was very different from the local accent in Changle County. This person told Rao Weng and the others:

"A few of us are from Kucha, and there is a group of Yanqi people in front of us, all of whom are here to buy needles."