North and South groceries

Ten pennies per person, the asking price is really not low.

As for the servants in Changle County, their monthly salary is only [-] Wen, plus those benefits for the New Year and holidays, it takes about four times a year. If they can catch one of the thieves on the list, it will take them two years half wages.

Not to mention that the job of the errand was originally a piece of cake, and ordinary people couldn't earn that much at all.

As soon as the news of the ten guanqian alone got out, those villains who hadn't been arrested, let alone revenge, would have no way of protecting themselves.

The reason why Luo Yong set such a high price this time is to let some people know that if anyone dares to stretch his claws on his territory in Changle County, he will definitely call them back and forth.

Changle County has been getting richer and richer in the past two years. Whether it is in the city or outside the city, almost every household can save some money, but it is in such a border area, not to mention the tough folk customs, and there are many thieves.

Regarding this point, they have been on guard for a long time. The county lieutenant Guo Fenglai has never slacked in his work. This time, during the harvest season of white stacked flowers, they even sent two teams of guards to patrol the countryside. This time, it was thanks to the previous The merchant who reported to them was able to solve the conspiracy of these thieves in time before the tragedy happened.

Luo Yong heard that the merchant was currently buying white daisy flowers in a village not far from Changle County, so he, Qiao Junlin and several servants brought generous gifts to visit.

This person is an ordinary merchant in Jiuquan. He has been a merchant for several generations, but he has no accumulation. It is just that there are a lot of people in his family. There are hundreds of people in a family, old and young.

The more people there are, the more powerful they will be. Ordinary Xiao Xiao doesn't dare to bully them, but correspondingly, the burden of supporting his family is also heavy.

This era is not like the later generations, as long as one is hard-working and healthy, he can always find a job, whether he enters a factory or a construction site, he can support his family anyway.

This era is much more difficult now, especially in borderlands like Hexi, where many people work hard all day long, and the income will only be enough for one or two people to eat.

Therefore, many people have to rely on their families to survive. If there are many people, there is great strength. If everyone's strength is twisted together, there will always be a better chance to fight for a way out.

A merchant like them with more than 100 people has an advantage in the competition with other small vendors.

However, this year's business of white stacked flowers has not yet entered the autumn, and the powerful people in and out of the city have divided up the territory, and ordinary small businesses can't get in at all.

So they gathered [-] or [-] young people from the family and came all the way to Changle County, hoping to make a fortune this year when the white-stacked flower market is just right.

Unexpectedly, I happened to meet those thieves pretending to be Jiuquan people. I saw that they didn't speak and act like serious businessmen, and their accent was a bit wrong.

"Anyway, I would like to thank Ming Weng this time. If not, the dozen or so families in my village would all suffer disaster." At this point, Luo Yong made a toast to the old man in front of him.

This village is quite big, and compared to other villages in the area, it is relatively rich. When Lizheng heard that the county magistrate was coming, he asked his family to prepare a banquet, and invited Luo Yong and the merchant, that is, Ming Weng and his party. Drinking and talking in the living room.

"It's a trivial matter, County Magistrate Luo doesn't need to be so polite." Naming Weng hurriedly returned the gift.

After drinking a cup of turbid wine, Luo Yong asked Ming Weng why he was suspicious of those thieves.

Ming Weng wiped off the wine stains on his beard, and said with a smile, "It's a human or a ghost. If you see it a lot, you'll know the difference."

An old merchant like Ming Weng has been a merchant for most of his life, and he has never seen any ghosts and ghosts, so his vision is naturally more vicious than ordinary people.

Speaking of which, it is really not easy to do business in this era, not to mention fair competition, and in many cases even personal safety is not guaranteed.

During the dinner, Luo Yong told Ming Weng and others that if they encounter any difficulties in Changle County in the future, they can come to find him.

Ming Weng was very happy when he got this remark, and he was even more happy when Bi Luoyong gave him a generous gift of money and silk.

The meal was enjoyed by both the host and the guests, and when the meal was almost finished, Luo Yong saw that it was getting late, so he got up to leave, and they wanted to return to the county before dark.

Ming Weng and Li Zheng sent them all the way outside the village, watched them go, and only slowly returned to the village until they could no longer see the figure clearly.

At this time, it was about two or three o'clock in the afternoon, and the villagers were busy harvesting the white-studded flowers in the fields of white-studded flowers on both sides of the village road.

The disciples of Ming Weng's family set up a stall to buy white-flowered flowers in an open space on the side of the road. From time to time, someone would push a cart and carry a load to sell white-flowered flowers. A few arguments.

"This year's collection of white stacks of flowers, every household in your village can earn a lot of money. After offering a reward to arrest people, thieves will never dare to commit crimes again. People in Erdi can live in comfort and prosperity."

Ming Weng stopped by the side of the road, looked at the scene of buying white staggered flowers not far away, and said to Li Zheng who was waiting beside him.

When Lizheng and others heard this, they felt a lot of emotion in their hearts. Their village is considered a big one, with a lot of people and a lot of land, but the land is barren. They have worked hard all year long, but they can't afford much food. They have to pay taxes and support their families. Fearing corrupt officials and thieves, life is very difficult.

"I'm afraid this comfortable life will be lost every day." Li Zheng sighed.

"The magistrate of Naluo will be transferred away." Ming Weng asked hurriedly.They also plan to come here again next year to harvest white stacked flowers. If the county magistrate Luo is not here, Changle County next year will not know what will happen.

"I've never heard of it at the moment, it's just that I'm so worried." Li Zheng waved his hand.

"There is no need to worry too much about Lizheng." Ming Weng explained him, "Don't you see that Lishi County, although it has been away from Luo Sanlang for many years, is still prosperous and prosperous now, even more than it was back then."

"I hope so." Compared with Changle, Lishi County still occupies a more favorable area after all.

"I heard that there are many workshops in your county, and now you have this white jasmine. Every year you grow jasmine flowers, you should have some income. No matter what, life will not be worse than before." Ming Weng continued to comfort.

Having said that, there are quite a few farmers in Jiuquan this year who planted white daisy flowers, so what happened? As a local merchant in Jiuquan, their Ming family could not buy white daisy flowers in their local area. Instead, they had to travel thousands of miles to This Changle County came to buy.

Under such circumstances, if the farmers on their side sell white stacked flowers, the price can only be decided by the buyer. The price is high and the price is low, it all depends on the buyer's conscience.

After a while, when these white-studded flowers are transferred to the market, the price will be very high again.

So those scholars who don't distinguish between five grains say that the price difference is earned by the merchants. As merchants, Ming Weng and the others are really wronged.

When the sky gradually darkened, the villagers returned home from work one after another, and the children of the Bai family returned to rest in the yard they had rented in the village after collecting the last batch of white daisy flowers for the day.

This yard was rented by them and Lizheng. It is the old yard of Lizheng's family. The yard is quite big, and the house is fairly neat. There used to be a lot of firewood and sundries in the yard, but some of them are still piled up in the yard now. , and some were moved to Lizhengjia's new courtyard, and when they were about to leave, they had to help others move their things back.

It's not easy to be away from home, especially for small merchants like them who have a lot of money, and they have to be frugal everywhere. If this business can make some money this time, after returning home, each house and branch will be able to share some money. Things will be better this winter.

At this time, Ming Weng and the others are calculating the white stack flowers harvested today and the money and silk expenses for this day.

Because of the money and silk that Luo sent today, they can take back some more white flowers this time, so everyone is very happy.

In addition to money and silk, Luo Yong also sent them some baijiu, bacon, canned miso and other things, all of which were produced by the county government-run workshops, and they did not need to spend money to buy them. Not a lot.

It's autumn now, the weather is getting colder and the appetite is getting better. It's the time to eat meat and store up autumn fat. However, meat is expensive in autumn in their place, and the price of mutton will come down only after the goats have grown cashmere in winter. .The Ming family's children are also very greedy for meat recently, and the bacon and canned meat that Luo used came at the right time.

That night they opened a can of mutton, poured out about half of the can, and stewed a large cauldron of mixed vegetables with various vegetables exchanged from the villagers.

When a child from the village came over to smell it, Ming Weng asked his family to serve some with them.

Merchants like them, after all, have a better life than ordinary farmers, so they are not very stingy.

In the early morning of the next day, Ming's family got up to make breakfast, and a villager brought them some vegetables from their own home, put down their things and said a few words, and hurriedly went down to the field again.

Although the price of white stacked flowers is high, it is not easy to pick them. Recently, their households are very busy, and even the half-grown children have to go to the fields to work.

In Changle County, Luo Yong and the others got up very early that day.

After eating, everyone gathered in the backyard of the county government. Today is the day for harvesting sweet potatoes, which was decided early in the morning.

Originally, Luo Yong said that he could accept it if he looked at it, but many people said that it was too hasty to act like that, and insisted on inviting a Taoist priest to watch the day and choose the time, and finally chose this morning.

Luo Yong saw that it would be a good day to harvest sweet potatoes, so he agreed.

At this time, everyone came to the sweet potato field in the backyard of the county office. First, they cut off the sweet potato vines with a sickle, rolled up the sweet potato vines covering the ground, packed them in baskets, and moved them to the open space in the courtyard.

The rest of the ridges and ridges of the sweet potato field are bare, and sometimes a few weeds can be seen. Nests of sweet potatoes grow in the field ridges, and you can see the stubble left after the sweet potato vines were cut.

The first person to put down the hoe was Luo Yong. As soon as he went down with the hoe, he dug and pried, and the red-skinned sweet potatoes rolled out from the ridges of the field. The big ones were about the size of a gourd, and the small ones were only as big as a fist. as big.

As soon as the first nest of sweet potatoes was dug out, the spectators in the corridor became very calm. When they spoke, their voices could not be suppressed, and they all started shouting unconsciously.

This nest of sweet potatoes grows so big that it is enough for a family of five or six to have a full meal.

When these sweet potatoes were first planted earlier, they all saw it. It was just a three-inch-long sweet potato vine, and it was enough to insert it into the field. Now it has grown into such a big nest !

"..."

"Ouch! And there's more, this litter is extra large!"

"Look! The biggest one is almost as big as a clay pot!"

"It's really amazing! It's just a branch and vine, but in three or four months, it can grow so much!"

"This litter weighs twenty catties?"

"The new grain brought by those Kunlun people is really powerful!"

"Look, look, there's another basket!"

"A few litters can hold a load."

"Hey, be careful, don't knock the sweet potatoes in the soil."

"Ouch! It's broken, it's broken!"

"..."

In those difficult times more than 1000 years later, many people felt sick after eating sweet potatoes.

Because of the large population and the scarcity of food, only sweet potatoes are the easiest thing to get, so we have to eat every meal, so that people's stomachs are sour, and there is no oil and water to replenish, and there is no rice or flour to nourish them. It is really bitter. unspeakable.

Even so, there are still countless people living in the sweet potato.

In this era, in the seventh century AD when there was no sweet potato, its appearance is simply ecstatic!