North and South groceries

Although sufficient calculations and preparations had been made before the construction, Hengzhi spent more time and energy than planned on building the bridge on the wasteland between Dunhuang and Gaochang this time.

Guo Xiaoke was very satisfied with the bridge. On the day of completion acceptance, he rode his tall horse and ran back and forth on the bridge several times.

This cement bridge, which he had never heard of before, was as strong and stable as those stone bridges built by skilled craftsmen, and horses ran on it like walking on flat ground.

Such a good and strong bridge, from the beginning to the end, only took more than a month to build, the more I think about it, the more I feel incredible.

When Guo Xiaoke was young, it happened to be in troubled times, so he voted in Wagangzhai at that time, marching and fighting was commonplace.

During their march, they were most afraid of encountering this kind of complicated terrain. Regardless of the fact that the distance from one side of the canyon to the other is only a few feet, but there are no wings on their backs.

Although on some major traffic arteries, people often build cable bridges on terrain like this, but how can the cable bridge compare with the bridge in front of you.

It's a pity, the cost is really too high, otherwise he really wants to build a few more.

A few days later, first Tang Jian brought the teachers and students of Changle Academy back to Changle County, and then Hengzhi and the others also came back.

The workers who went to repair the bridge with them this time also earned money, but it was only a month or so, and the money they earned was more than they had earned in a whole year of hard work in the past, twenty or thirty yuan a day It's just normal. For those jobs that are more dangerous, the salary is doubled and doubled. More than 100 yuan is not uncommon.

For these poor and accustomed men, this is no different from sending money from the sky.

Some people in the city who didn't sign up to build the bridge at that time were all envious when they heard that they had earned so much money, and there were also those who secretly regretted it.

"Next time there is such a job, you call me, no matter what he is, I will go if I risk my life."

"Okay, hey, I'll call you when the time comes."

"Brother is fighting for justice!"

"And me and me! I want to go too!"

"..." These days, there is a lot of noise in the city, and many people want to repair the bridge.

"Don't think about those useless ones. I'm afraid that there will be no bridges to repair after a while." Some people poured cold water on them.

"Why do you say that?" Those who really wanted to build the bridge were naturally unhappy when they heard this.

"When those fine iron bars were transported out of our city that day, you all saw that, spending so much fine iron bars just to build a bridge, how much money does Guo Duhu have to afford such repairs?" Many bridges." The man said.

Don't listen to what he said, but don't take it seriously: "You don't have any money, so you think that everyone in the world is as poor as you."

"Hahahaha!"

"He is a senior official from Chang'an City."

"I heard that Guo Duhu was from the Wagang village. Don't you know what kind of livelihood the Wagang village does?"

"I've also heard people say that before they surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, they were a group of thieves. Wherever the team fights, the people there will suffer."

"I don't know how much gold, silver and jewelry have been robbed."

"It's very different whether there is a bandit or not."

"..."

When they were in war in the early years, no matter which side they were from, as long as they came to Changle County, the local people had to take good care of them. People have to grab it with their hands.

That is to say, the world has been peaceful in these years, the sages cherish the people's power, and the officials in the court have done something. These soldiers lead the soldiers seriously and restrain the soldiers under their hands, and dare not act like they used to.

During those years of war, human life was worthless. The person who spoke just now must have had enmity with certain soldiers, which is not surprising.

There are also men who joined the army in their locality. Except for those things that are not as good as livestock, ordinary people will not bully their elders in their hometown, but when they go to other places, who knows, it is a world where you live and die anyway.

But the question everyone is most concerned about right now is whether or not Guo Duhu has any money. Some people say that he has robbed many treasures in the past, and he is very rich. Some people say that he probably has no money. repair bridge.

Lao Guo really has no money at this time. He did rob some when he was in Wagangzhai. At that time, as long as they captured a city, they would rush to the city to rob .

Later, when they voted for Li Tang, they could no longer rob them like that. Although there would be rewards for victories, how could the rewards be as much as what they robbed before.

Over the years, Guo Xiaoke has to support his family, and he is a pleasure seeker, so his family style naturally does not particularly advocate frugality, from top to bottom, it is probably the same.

This time he came to Hexi for his post, and he did not bring a lot of belongings with him. Originally, he wanted to fight a few beautiful battles to make a fortune, but there was no battle to fight. This is road construction and bridge construction, and it is all about spending money. .

Some time ago, the summer harvest was just over, and some cloth and grain were harvested, but not much. As the Anxi Governor, how many people did he support under his command? Besides, the bulk of the tax revenue had to wait until after the autumn harvest.

With no money in hand and no battle to fight, Guo Duhu thought about it and went to fight some gophers first.

It just so happened that in their area these days, there are a lot of rumors about the reinforced concrete bridge. Most of them say that the bridge is very valuable and there are many refined iron bars on it.

After Guo Xiaoke had a brief discussion with a few people under his command, he arranged for a few people to go to the workshop and brag about the bridge, saying that the bridge was full of fine iron bars one by one. If the root comes out, it is enough to hit a big knife.

Some people really believed that in the next period of time, it was heard that Guo Duhu wiped out several gangs of bandits on the deserted beach between Gaochang and Dunhuang. All property and weapons were confiscated, and horses were also taken in. Going to the mining area to work as a coolie, although the income is not much, but the mosquito is still meat no matter how small it is.

After the news spread to Changle County, those people who had been thinking about building the bridge before, most of them gave up at this time. It seems that Guo Duhu really has no money.

Those gangs of thieves were taken to their lairs one by one, which is really a blessing to the herdsmen outside the pass and the pedestrians and merchants who come and go on this commercial road.

After this new wooden track was opened, many merchants from Gaochang also came to Dunhuang to do business. From Dunhuang to Jinchang City, Changle County, there is also a wooden track, which is very convenient for travel. In the early autumn of the first year, there were many more Gaochang merchants traveling to and from Changle County than before.

At the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, it is the season when grapes are ripe. There is a Gaochang merchant who buys the best grapes from the local area, and carefully puts them in baskets, one layer of soft grass and one layer of grapes. The newly opened wooden track transported their grapes from Gaochang to Dunhuang for sale, which was very profitable.

There was also a Gaochang merchant selling grapes in Changle County. Erniang heard the news and looked for it early. When she asked the price, she was not very willing to buy it, so she only bought two dans in the end.

Grapes are expensive, probably because they are not easy to preserve, and the journey from Gaochang to their Changle County is quite long. The journey is very fast, and the damage during transportation plus the cost of hiring a car to go on the wooden track, the price is very high. Naturally, it won't be cheap, unlike Yiwu's melons, which are resistant to falling and can be put away.

Luo Erniang negotiated with those merchants in Gaochang, asking them to bring some raisins to sell in autumn, as long as the price is right, she will buy more.

Those Gaochang people readily agreed. When there was no wooden track in the past, it was not easy to transport a few loads of raisins from Gaochang to Dunhuang by using the sealed camels to transport goods. Therefore, the price of raisins here It is very expensive, but now that the wooden track is connected, it is very easy to bring some raisins over. The things are not afraid of falling or being crushed, and a car can hold a lot of them.

Although Changle County is not a big place, almost every household in this city works in workshops and receives wages every month. These people have money on hand. The price of these fresh grapes is too expensive right now. Let’s get some raisins later. Come here, it must be a good sell.

These Gaochang merchants were thinking in their hearts, doing business happily on their faces, and within half a day, the two or three carts of grapes were sold out. After all, there are still many wealthy households and tea merchants living in this city All are rich.

Erniang had two loads of grapes, one load was taken to the cashmere workshop, and the other load was brought to Luo Yong by herself, in case Luo Yong was not around for a while, and the load of grapes would be shared by others in the end. It's over, it's not that she is stingy, this load of grapes is really a lot of money.

Their siblings grew up in Xipo Village. They used to only hear about grapes, but they didn't know what it tasted like. Later, she ate it in Liangzhou City, but it was not as good as these Gaochang grapes. The sweetness is so good, Luo Yong didn't know if he ate it when he was in Chang'an.

The author has something to say:

Gaochang City in the Tang Dynasty was located in the current Turpan area. As I said before, I wonder if you still remember it.