North and South groceries

"Aye..."

In a small village not far from Changle County, on this day, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy was hesitant to speak to his family, Aye.

"Why?" His Aye looked quite old, and he was sitting in front of his house at this moment, weaving baskets out of red willow branches.

His hands are dark and rough, full of scars and calluses, but his movements are quite sensitive, and the baskets he weaves are also very delicate.

In the past, in their area, the price of such baskets was quite cheap, and there were few people who were willing to buy them. Since the wooden track from Changle County to Jinchang City was opened, the business exchanges between the two places have gradually increased. It prospered very much.

Take such big baskets to Changle County, one can be sold for a penny, and he can weave three or four a day. If they are all sold, he can get three or four pennies. The income is also good. This work is lighter than grinding needles, and it doesn't take much effort.

"Aye..." His youngest son called again.

"Just say what you want." This is the first time I've called this today, and the old man is getting a little impatient.

"..." His son muttered for a while, and finally said: "I want to work in that car factory in the city."

I heard that a young man like him, who went to the car factory in Changle County, even if he just did some ordinary physical work, could earn two or three Wen a day, and he could manage food and housing. If he could learn some skills, then The salary is high, just like those craftsmen in the needle workshop, how many people in the city and outside the city are envious.

It's just that once you become a craftsman, if you become a worker in the future, you will no longer be a peasant household. In this era, the social status of a craftsman is lower than that of a peasant household.

"Go as long as you want, dawdle." Unexpectedly, Aye said so.

"Aye?" The young man was very surprised. Isn't he, Aye, worried that he will become a craftsman in the future?

"The county magistrate never said that all those who work in the workshops should be changed to the household registration of craftsmen. Don't worry, go if you want, and come back when the wind is not right." The old man was quite open-minded.

"This county magistrate Luo is naturally a good one, but if someone else becomes the county magistrate in the future, what should I do if I have to change my household registration to work registration?" The young man saw that Aye was so talkative today, so Then he uttered all the troubles in his heart.

"Then you can't run." The old man said to his stupid son: "The Great Wall is only so tall. You young man, are you afraid that you won't be able to climb it?"

"..." The young man was stunned, he, Aye, actually told him to climb the Great Wall!

"If something bad happens next time, many people will have to run away, and then you will also run away, and you will not be the only one, so I'm afraid." The old man said again.

"If the government wants to implicate the father and brother's family, what should I do?" The young man was still worried.

"That can't be done." The old man was weaving baskets neatly in his hands, and said in his mouth: "If the government wants to act like that, then we will follow suit, and when the time comes, you can see how many families are left in Changle County. "

Ordinarily, as long as the officials are not too evil, they should not treat the local people so harshly. If there is such an evil person, no matter whether he is a farmer or a worker, life will be difficult.

These days, not far from his house, on the two wooden tracks, there are many carriages coming and going every day. Those carriages can run so steadily on those tracks. Hurry up, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have imagined that such a thing would exist in this world.

His youngest son wants to go to the city to learn art, which is a good thing. Originally, he had been thinking about it for the past few days, and wanted him to go to Changle County to learn a handicraft, earn some money, and go out to see the world in the future, even if one day they This place is dry, and he can go to other places to find a way of life, unlike them, who have been born and raised here all their lives, and cannot live without this familiar land.

"Go with peace of mind. If you have the ability in the future, don't forget your brothers and sisters. If you encounter any bad things, you can just run away. If you go to the gate to herd sheep, you can live. I don't hope You can be filial in front of me every day, and you can bring me some mutton during the festivals..."

On this morning two days later, the young man ate a bowl of Hoto cooked for him by his sisters-in-law, took a few pancakes with him, and took a package packed by his mother, and together with several fellow villagers, Go to Changle County.

The eldest son of the village Zheng's family drove them into the city in an ox cart, and the villagers sent them all the way out of the village. Son also goes.

The village is a big family in their village, but in a wild village like theirs, even the best family in the village is not much better.

Although he bears the name of the village official, he doesn't have much salary. A few years ago, his village official suffered from a serious illness, which dragged on and off for several years, and he emptied the house. He refused to ask his family to hire a doctor, and he didn't take medicine anymore. He refused to sell the land property, so he just dragged it off. He never thought that he would gradually get better in recent years.

In the past two years, he has often traveled between their village and Changle County, helping the villagers get some needle-grinding work from the city, and the county gave him some hard-earned money, which is actually a subsidy.

There are many sons in their family, and there are several grandchildren now. This time, when the people in their village plan to enter the workshop, it is the youngest son of the village Zheng's family who leads the way. The two older nephews were sent to the county school to study, and if they were good or bad, they could read a few words.

The eldest son of the village Zheng's family also said that after they settle down in the city, he will go there himself in the future. He can work in that workshop for a few months, and he will pay more than his own farm, and he is not afraid of anything. Natural disasters and man-made disasters, just work and get paid, don't worry.

But everyone thought he couldn't go, because he had to stay in the village as the next village chief.

The bullock cart slowly drove out of the village entrance, and at the junction of the dirt road in the village and the cement road outside, there was a large field of white flowers.

The largest one belongs to the village's family. After last autumn, he bought a lot of japonica seeds in the city and brought back a lot with the villagers. Every time he went to the city, he took two or three days to come back. The county government gate picks seeds.

The wheels of the car turned slowly, and on both sides of the cement road, there were large expanses of white flocks. In the past, some barren and alkaline lands where no crops could be grown, now there are many white flocks.

It's the end of spring now, and the field has not yet bloomed with white cascades, but only a patch of green seedlings. If you don't know it, you can just treat it as an ordinary crop.

A few young people sat on the bullock cart and talked, thinking about a better life in the future, mainly about how to spend the money they earned.

Apart from them, there were also some people walking on the concrete road carrying carts, some driving donkey carts, horse carts, and ox carts, and some driving camels.

Not far in front of them, there were also a few people who entered the city in a bullock cart. At this time, they were discussing the matter of white folds loudly there.

"..."

"I don't know the price of this white stack of flowers this year?"

"If there are too many, Luo Erniang's cashmere workshop may not be able to sort them out."

"I heard that the white folded flower heart is really hard to peel."

"You won't tell us to peel it off and then sell it?"

"Then to what year and month?"

"Naro County Magistrate should not be like this."

"I guess there should be something exquisite in their cashmere workshop that can overcome this white flower heart."

"How delicate is that?"

"I don't think there is any other way to peel this white flower heart apart from peeling it by hand."

"Exactly, what kind of delicate thing can be more delicate than fingers?"

"..."

A few young people in the car on this side listened to their words and imagined the delicate things that peeled the white flowers, about a few wooden fingers, peeling the white flowers quickly there, thinking about it. impossible.

"Then Luo Erniang's cashmere workshop is going to recruit people again this year?" the eldest son of the village chief who was driving the car muttered at this time.

I heard that the workshops of the cashmere workshop are full of people, and now they refuse to accept any more people for a while, and if they want to come in again, it will be unless someone comes out from inside, or their workshops have been expanded again.

The flower heart of the white folded flower is so hard to peel, and so many have been planted in the county this year, the eldest son of the village chief feels that they must continue to recruit people when the time comes.

Now the wooden track from Changle County to Jinchang City has also been opened, and there is also a carriage for carrying people. It only costs three renminbi per person, and six renminbi for a round trip. I heard that the speed of the carriage is very fast and very stable. , Just like sitting on the clouds, from Changle to Jinchang, it's there in an instant.

If the cashmere workshop recruits more people this year, I am afraid that many young ladies from Jinchang City will come to work in the cashmere workshop. They will cost at least forty or fifty cash a month, and if there are more, it will cost more. The fare is nothing to them.

At this time, they were walking on the cement road here, and on the wooden track next to it, a carriage ran past every once in a while, at a very fast speed.

I heard that the drivers who drive the carriages are all specially trained, and there are numbers on each carriage, not just anyone and any carriage can get on this wooden track.

The bullock cart was walking slowly on the concrete road. The sun was getting bigger and bigger. The closer it was to Changle County, the more lively the surrounding area became. In several villages near the county town, farmers came to the city to sell vegetables every day. I heard that vegetables are quite expensive these days, and those villages who live far away are very envious.

Not far from the gate of the city, there is a platform where the wooden carriages are on the track. There are special personnel responsible for maintaining order, and there are regulations on how often a car will be dispatched.

It costs a few dollars for those carriages to go on the track. It is said that it will be used for the repair and maintenance of the wooden track and the operation of this track.The things here are quite complicated, and they don't quite understand it, but they think this wooden track is too convenient, and the carriage runs too fast on it.

When they arrived at the gate of the city, another wooden-tracked carriage slowly arrived at the platform and stopped, then the door opened, and more than ten people got out of the carriage one after another.

On the other side of the city gate, there was already a queue of not too long or short at this time, and several guards guarded the city gate, asking for the identity of the visitor.

"Why are there so many people entering the city today?" After all, Changle County is a small town, and people like them rarely have to queue up when they enter the city on weekdays.

"You haven't heard of it yet?" A vegetable seller in front said to them: "The disciples of the Luo county magistrate have been selling cotton gins in the city these two days. I heard that they are very useful. You can get five bolts of good silk in exchange for them." One, many people from Jinchang came to buy it in the past two days."

"Just started selling yesterday?"

"Exactly. It was sold out early yesterday morning, and after noon, those Jinchang people came. You see that there are so many people here today. I don't know if the cotton gin is enough to sell."

"Five bolts of good silk cloth are not a lot."

"It's not expensive anymore. I heard that the cotton gin still has fine iron on it."

"However, there are not so many silks at home."

"If you are from the local area, if you have planted white flowers at home, Qiuli will exchange them with white flowers. There are official documents pasted at the gate of the county government office."

"..."

A group of people entered the city, and saw that the two streets on the left and right against the city wall were full of various stalls, selling turbid wine, rice vinegar, baskets, straw sandals, firewood, rice noodles, and so on. All kinds of cakes and snacks.

Since the wooden track between Changle County and Jinchang City was opened, Changle County has become much more lively than before. Not only many merchants from Jinchang City come and go to Changle County to do business, but also the Pedestrians and goods between Dunhuang City and Changle County are several percent more than before.

I heard that Dunhuang is also planning to repair the wooden track now, and when the wooden track on the Yizhou side is also connected, I don't know how lively and prosperous Changle County will be.