North and South groceries

After this meeting, Luo Yong met Guo An several times, sometimes Luo Yong and Qiao Junlin met with Guo An and other young people, and sometimes some of Guo An's seniors.

They had some detailed discussions about the cooperation between the two parties in setting up a needle shop in Taiyuan Prefecture, and finally decided that Luo Yong's disciples would provide technology and equipment, and Guo's family would provide the artificial site and specific operations, and finally the proceeds from selling needles If there is silk, the account will be divided into four or six. Luo Yong's disciples get [-]%, and Guo's family gets [-]%.

Many places in the east of the river can produce iron. Opening a needle workshop in Taiyuan can not only obtain local materials, but also make it very convenient to sell the final needles to Chang'an, Luoyang and other places, because the goods can go down the river because they can walk by water.

The area around Taiyuan Prefecture was called Bingzhou in ancient times. Bingzhou originally produced ironware and had a group of skilled craftsmen. Du Fu, who was also born in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote in a poem: "How can I get Bingzhou's fast scissors to cut half of the river in Wusong." Explanation At that time, the scissors in Bingzhou should be quite famous.

Earlier, Heng's Car Manufacturing Company and Yin's Wheel Company both went to Taiyuan Prefecture to hire blacksmiths at high prices in order to manufacture some iron parts. role.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world. The news that Luo Yong and the Guo family will jointly open a needle workshop in Taiyuan Mansion quickly spread among some well-informed big families in Chang'an City.

Not only that, Luo Yong's disciples are asking around with the portraits of the two thieves who died in the Luo's house recently. They don't know how to make the portraits, but they look very similar to real people. I heard that they also made engravings, Portraits like that, they want as many as they want now, and distribute them freely in the market, and they also say that if anyone knows these two people, they will go to the North and South Grocery, even if they only know a little bit, the North and South Grocery will prepare a generous amount. A big thank you.

"Looking for someone! Looking for someone!"

"Who knows about these two people!"

"North and South groceries looking for someone!"

"There is a thank you for providing information!"

On this day, several young gentlemen were walking on the street, and suddenly a portrait was stuffed into the hands of those half-grown children.

"Tsk, bad luck." After all, it was a portrait of a dead man. One of the gorgeously dressed young men threw it to the servant beside him, but the servant didn't dislike it. He folded it a few times and put it in his arms. If you draw dead people, you can't use it to paste walls and windows. If you cut it out, you can still use it as a toilet, but it is much cleaner than toilet paper.

"That coffin board is really crazy. The portraits they have printed out in the past few days are so many that they can almost fill Chang'an City." Another gentleman looked at his hand That portrait, said with a smile.

"Fill it in as you like, it doesn't matter if he finds these two people or not, it has nothing to do with us." Just now the man said.

"Although these two people have nothing to do with us, the needle shop on Hedong Road is closely related to us." Another person beside him said.

"It doesn't matter, you and I are neither women nor clothes."

"This statement is absurd."

"Do you still remember that Luo Sanlang used to make toilet paper in Hedong?"

"What was the price of paper in Chang'an City a few years ago, and what is the price of paper now?"

"The making of needles this time is somewhat different from making paper. The Guo family in Taiyuan may soon prosper by taking advantage of this shareholder style."

"I don't think so, even if they earn a little money, it's just a small family."

"..."

Several people were talking, entered a guest house, ordered food and drink after being seated, and continued the conversation just now.

"Don't look at how dilapidated the Guo family is, I heard that there are quite a few talented people in their family. Now with the help of Luo Sanlang, they can do something compared to others."

"Unlike some families, what can some powerful people do now? If there is no good talent in the family, it will decline sooner or later."

"You're talking about the Qi family."

"It's not his family who else can have. Although the Qi family has two high-ranking officials, there are no successors. The good situation is that there is no successor. It is really a joke to get someone like that to be the county magistrate of Chang'an." .”

Speaking of which, the Qi family and the Luo family don't have much enmity, but when someone in the court impeached Luo Yong, their Qi family also got involved, and it's not like the Wu family. Shi was also dismissed because of Luo Yong's affairs.

In such a situation, the county magistrate of Qi met Luo Siniang's case, no matter from the perspective of being an official or from the perspective of family relations, he just handled the case according to the law, but the unsatisfactory one had to be in the case. Showing off his prestige in front of the Luo family, it seemed that he didn't take Luo Yong very seriously.

It's all right now, the saint is also dissatisfied with him, and even wonders if their Qi family is also involved in this incident, and the two big brothers in their family must be feeling uncomfortable at this time.Coupled with the fact that Luo Yong is back now, with that coffin board acting like a calf protector, this time this matter must not be lightly exposed.

The position of Chang'an county magistrate is not easy to sit, and accidents are easy to happen and bad luck, but if he does a good job and wins the favor of saints and bigwigs in the court, his future official career will be open.

It's just that not everyone has this opportunity. There are only so many official positions in the court, and those important positions are occupied by others. Once a vacancy becomes available, the major families will inevitably compete for it. .

Last time, the position of Chang'an county magistrate was taken away by their Qi family, but this Qi county magistrate is not up to date, seeing that he has been sitting in this county magistrate's position for more than two years, he will be appointed in this term. He was full, but he insisted on making such a moth, now it's all right, let's be roasted on the fire.

These young gentlemen were quite gloating when they talked about this matter, and they were all waiting to see how Luo Coffin Baner would deal with that surnamed Qi.

However, without waiting for Luo Yong to do something here, Aunt Luo, who is in the south of the Yangtze River, started to fight with the Qi family first.

This time, what happened to Si Niang in Chang'an City, Aunt Luo heard the news, she was about to pack her bags and go back, and then a day later, another news came from Chang'an City, saying that the sage had taken Si Niang away As the adoptive daughter of Princess Pingyang, she became the princess.

Aunt Luo is now a little undecided. Since Si Niang is fine, it seems useless for her to be driven back. If Luo Yong is not in Chang'an City, even if she knows who is going to kill their Luo family, Aunt Luo will be alone. I'm afraid that the small merchant can't do anything to those people, but this time such a big thing happened, based on what she knew about Luo Yong, he would definitely go back.

Aunt Luo wrote a letter to the elder sister's restaurant in Chang'an City, asking the stewards in the shop to take care of Si Niang and the others, and pay attention to their own safety.

What's more, if Luo Yong returns to Chang'an City, he will ask them to obey Luo Yong's orders, even if they sell off the whole sister's food shop in Chang'an City, they don't have to be stingy. If they want to come to Jiangnan, they will all come Jiangnan is developing, if they don't want to come, Aunt Luo will arrange for them to go to the north and south for groceries.

Mrs. Luo asked the stewards not to worry about the future, just help Luo Yong pass the current test. Besides, if the Luo family does not survive, sister’s food shop will not be able to keep it. As long as the Luo family is still there, they will have a place to go .

After arranging the affairs in Chang'an City, Aunt Luo was about to roll up her sleeves and start working with others.

The main reason why she decided to stay in Jiangnan this time was because of this matter.

This is a long story.

In the past two years, due to the continuous popularization of canned food technology, although it is not to the extent that ordinary people can do it, the aristocratic families in Chang'an City have basically obtained the prescription.

As a result, many big families set up orchards in Huainan and other places in the south of the Yangtze River, in order to make a batch of canned food every year and transport them to Luoyang and other places in Chang'an for the consumption of the family. Come out and share with your guests.

It can be said that if there is any big family in the south that does not have an orchard and cannot make canned food these days, then he is very OUT.

They don't lose face when they go out to deal with people, and they don't have anything to do with others when they show off to each other. If things go on like this, can't they be excluded from the circle?

Under such circumstances, the Qi family also set up orchards in the south, one of which was in Wu County, Suzhou.

Those who can be arranged to run an orchard in the south, I think they will definitely not be elite figures in the family.The Qi family who was sent to Wu County was not very good, they were very lecherous, they had only been in Wu County for more than a year, and they got several concubines for themselves, and they treated them very badly, beating people indiscriminately when they got angry.

One of his concubines, before being taken as a concubine by him, worked as a part-time worker in a sister's food shop for more than a month. At that time, Aunt Luo and the others were busy making canned food, and the shop was short of manpower, so the neighbors came to help They introduced some women and girls to work as part-time workers, and the concubine of the Qi family was one of them.

This woman is doing a good job. Aunt Luo also noticed it at the time. Two or three months later, because the business of my sister’s restaurant is getting better and better, it needs to recruit one or two permanent workers. At this time, the auntie thinks of her. , but unexpectedly, her distant relative who traded raw silk on Wuxian Street told Aunt Luo that she had been sold by Ye Niang to the Qi family as a concubine.

The two couples at Shengsi Shop are also kind-hearted. When they talk about the daughter of their distant relatives, they are also full of sadness. They say that such a good girl, why can't they help her find a family to live a down-to-earth life? The money given by the Qi family forced her to be a concubine.

He also said that Mr. Qi's family is not a good person. He has only been in Wu county for a long time, and he has added several concubines to himself. I heard that beatings and scolding are very casual on weekdays...

When Aunt Luo heard about this incident, she felt very sad, but she had seen too many such things. Among the stewards of her elder sister’s restaurant, there were also concubines. Aunt Luo cherished their talents and spent Money bought them out of their husbands' homes, and most of these people are relatively capable.

However, this relative of the raw silk shop is just a little girl who is not very enlightened. There are too many people like this in the world. How can Aunt Luo manage it? There was something involved, so in the end it was just hardening my heart, pretending I had never heard of it.

Never thought that the aunt would not want to have anything to do with the Qi family, but the Qi family actually bullied their Luo family.

These big family trees have deep roots and cannot be easily shaken, but with Aunt Luo's strength, it will not be too difficult to cut off a branch of it.

This family has bullied their Luo family, how can they still swallow their anger?

So Aunt Luo tried to get in touch with this distant relative of the raw silk shop, and told her that she had to do something. If she was willing to help, then Aunt Luo would take her away from that surnamed Qi no matter how much money and effort it cost. Get out of the man's side.

The woman named Yan'er agreed without even thinking about it. With tears in her eyes, she begged Mrs. Luo to buy herself out, so that she would not be beaten to death by the Qi family lord.

Then that night, Yan'er purposely annoyed Qi Silang, and was beaten very hard. At night, she escaped from the Qi's house with injuries all over her body, and fled to Aunt Luo's sister's restaurant.

Mrs. Luo took her in, and invited her a doctor to come over. The neighbors heard about this, and some came to visit, and they all said that Mr. Qi's family is not a thing.

Since so many people knew about this, Qi Silang naturally knew that Yan'er was on Aunt Luo's side soon.

Qi Silang asked the servants of the mansion to come and look for Yan'er, and wanted to take her back, but Yan'er refused to go back. Aunt Luo said that she was injured, and if she stayed here for two days, she would take her back when the time came. She sends it back.

The servants were lowly in status, since Aunt Luo said so, they had no choice but to go back and return their orders.

Just how could Qi Silang be willing to leave Yan'er outside to embarrass himself, live in his sister's food shop with all his injuries, and the neighbors will look at each other, and he doesn't know how many gossips will be caused by that time Come.

So that afternoon, Qi Silang went to his sister's restaurant to find someone, and asked Aunt Luo to hand him over.

Although Aunt Luo still stopped her, Yan'er was Qi Si's concubine after all, so she had no choice but to stand aside.

But the swallow refused, and she didn't have time to put on her shoes, so she ran barefoot to the river behind the shop: "Tell me to go back to your house to live the days when pigs and dogs are not as good as you, why don't you let me jump into this river and die?" Forget it!"

"You jump! Jump off now if you have the ability! You will die completely! As long as you still have breath, let's see how I will deal with you!" Yan'er made such a fuss in front of the crowd, Qi Si became angry from embarrassment, Then he acted fiercely in front of everyone.

Yan'er is also really strong, immediately jumped into the water with a "plop", and sank straight down like a stone without struggling after entering the water.

When Aunt Luo saw this situation, her heart was in her throat. She just asked Yan'er to pretend to jump into the river and have a fight with Qi Si. When the time came, she and her neighbors would try to persuade her to stop her, and she would not be allowed to be killed by Qi Si. Take four back.I never thought that this silly woman would actually dance.

Immediately, Aunt Luo panicked, wishing she could jump down and pick her up, but she couldn't swim.

Fortunately, the neighbors were very enthusiastic. At that time, "Putong Putong" jumped down several people, and Yan'er was caught up in a short time.

Yan'er didn't fall into the water for a long time, she spit out a few sips of water after she got it up, but she was still angry, Aunt Luo hurriedly called someone to invite the doctor, and she wanted to take Yan'er to the shop to resettle.

At this time, Qi Si also said that he would take Yan'er back, but Aunt Luo and the elders of Wu County refused to agree.

So like this, Yan'er settled down at sister's canteen, she was injured all over her body, and she jumped into the river again in the cold winter months, she was very sick for a while.

Aunt Luo felt guilty, and invited the best doctor in Wu County to take care of Yan'er's body, taking care of her every day.

But Qi Si didn't want to give up, and often sent his family members to harass him. As time went on, not only the people in Wu County knew about it, but even people in other places in Suzhou knew that there was a Qi Silang in Wu County. It is the prince of the Qi family in Henan Province. He is rich, unkind, lustful and tyrannical. He spends money to buy women from poor families as concubines, but treats them like livestock. The reputation of the Qi family in Suzhou is very bad.

Aunt Luo is prepared for a long-term struggle. Anyway, since there is Aunt Luo in Wu County, there is no place for their Qi family.

I didn't expect that Qi Silang was really disappointing, but he couldn't stand it after being yelled at by the local elders in Wu County a few times in the street. The orchard in Wu County was sold, and I packed my bags and prepared to go home.

Before leaving Wu County, Qi Silang made another foolish move.The last time he went to my sister's restaurant to find someone, Yan Er still refused to go with him, and Aunt Luo also said that she would not let Yan Er go with him.

So Qi Silang said, since you want to protect her, you can buy her with money. As long as you can afford 500 taels of silver, I will hand her over to you.

500 taels of silver is really a lot of money in this era. Here in Wu County, ordinary people only spend tens of pennies a month, and most of them are not copper coins, but raw silk grains instead.

At this time, unlike later, so much foreign silver flowed into the Central Plains. Silver was very rare and its price was very high. For any merchant on Wuxian Street, 500 taels was a huge sum of money.

However, Aunt Luo agreed.

She first went to find the merchants from Chang'an who came to Jiangnan with her, and then found merchants from Lishi who harvested tea in the Jiangnan area. She scraped together 500 taels of silver and handed it over to Qi Silang in exchange for Yan'er's free body.

With the 500 taels of silver smashed down, the Qi family's reputation in the south of the Yangtze River was smashed to the ground and could never be picked up again.

Later, on both sides of the canal, there has been a story that has been circulating. It is about Aunt Luo’s generous donation. In order to save a poor woman who once worked as a part-time worker in her shop from the tyrannical Qi Silang, she did not hesitate to spend 500 taels of silver, and so on. .

In fact, if Qi Silang didn't ask for the 500 taels and insisted on asking for someone from Aunt Luo, then Aunt Luo would be very difficult to deal with.

In order to fulfill the promise between her and Yan'er, if she is forced to stay, it will inevitably come true, and even in the future struggle between the Luo family and the Qi family, this matter will become the opponent's handle.

However, if he is not successful, he is not successful. Qi Silang triumphantly brought 500 taels of silver back to his hometown, wondering if his family members would break his legs.

When Qi Silang's motorcade passed through Wuxian Street for the last time, Aunt Luo stood at the door of sister's restaurant, raised her hand and lightly brushed the dust off her sleeves.

She didn't have much expression on her face, but her eyes were quite sharp.

The dog magistrate surnamed Qi dared to tarnish the reputation of her family's fourth mother, and imprisoned an innocent woman for two days for no reason.

She wanted to ask the Qi family to see if the woman surnamed Luo was really that easy to deal with.