North and South groceries

This time Huang Youtian came back with one of Bai Qi's subordinates named Zhao Xing.

More than a month ago, when Luo used them to recruit people, Bai Qi and the others happened to come to Changle County. When they heard that they were recruiting people, they came to find them.

That is, in those few days, because many people escorted the thieves to the Changle County Government to receive rewards, Luo Yong took this opportunity to understand and sort out some forces in their local area and surrounding areas. Someone mentioned Bai Qi and his party to him.

According to what Luo Yong heard, Bai Qi is quite righteous, and the people under him are also more well-behaved. Although they are like knight-errants who hang out on the streets, they are not evildoers.

When Bai Qi and others went to apply that day, there were five people in total, and the others could say that only Zhao Xing was thin and thin, so he didn't meet the requirements originally, but since Bai Qi and the others came together, It was time to speak for Zhao Xing.

Luo Yong happened to be there at that time, so he asked Huang Youtian and the others to take these five people together.

A character like Bai Qi is expected to be more loyal. Luo Yong also felt that he was a talent and wanted him to be used by him, so he sold him a favor at that time.

But according to Huang Youtian, although Zhao Xing was thin and small, he was very courageous and flexible, so this time Huang Youtian came back and brought him back.

One reason is that it is safer for two people to go together, and the other reason is to let him go to Bai Qi and others' homes to report safety, and send them their first month's wages by the way. Let Zhao Xing do it, and the brothers are also very relieved.

The two of them returned to Changle County that afternoon. Huang Youtian first went to the county government to find Luo Yong, while Zhao Xing was taken to the Machine Workshop by Liu Huo and the others.

The name of their machine workshop is also a nonsense, which means that they specialize in machinery and equipment. They have built a large yard alone, not to be mixed with other large workshops, so it is quieter.

People like Liu Huo and the others are not very busy on weekdays. Seeing Huang Youtian and the others come back at this time, they really want to know what is going on with Yiwu. Zhao Xing was caught asking non-stop.

Later, even Hengzhi also came out from the back workshop. Hengzhi was originally a carpenter. In the past two years, he has played with ironware a lot, but mainly on the physical level. This time, the thorium oxide lampshade that Yiwu made, He didn't know what the reason was, and even if he went, he might not be able to help, but he was still curious.

It's a pity that Zhao Xing couldn't say anything about it. He said that they went in and out all day looking for stones. They found all kinds of stones and came back for the two gentlemen to ponder. I don't know if their processing method is correct.

After a while, when Huang Youtian came back, he said the same thing, and everyone felt annoyed. According to the current development, the methane lamp that Master told them might not be used for a while.

Huang Youtian and Zhao Xing rested at the machine workshop for one night, and early the next morning, they moved some rice, noodles, money and silk from the workshop, and sent wages to the families of those in their team to report their safety.

On the first day, I sent those people who lived in and outside Changle County first, and then went to Dunhuang on the second day.

The Dunhuang people in their team were Bai Qi and the five of them after all, after the two of them arrived in Dunhuang in a wooden carriage that day, Zhao Xing was familiar with the road and looked for them one by one.

Those people were still a little worried at first, but they were relieved when they saw Zhao Xing. They also knew that they were working for Luo Yong's disciples this time, and they earned more wages, so they were naturally happy.

Look at the food, cloth, and copper coins, there is so much for only one month's wages, and the neighbors on the left and right have come to watch the fun, saying that Zhao Xing and the others have found a good job this time.

When they finally came to the outside of the Bai family's courtyard, it was almost dark. Zhao Xing looked into the courtyard and saw that there seemed to be a light shining from the main room, so he raised his voice and called out: "Bai Weng can at home?"

"Ah Xing? Why are you back today?" Father Bai Qi recognized Zhao Xing's voice, and hurriedly opened the door to come out at this moment. Seeing him walking and talking, he seemed a little flustered.

"Ah, slow down, don't fall." Zhao Xing said with a smile as he stood outside the half-person-high fence.

"Oh... I'm not happy. It's been a long time since you left." Seeing his smiling face, old man Bai felt a lot more at ease.

The old white man gave birth to a total of six sons and a daughter in his life, not to mention the first two who failed to stand still. Among the four sons raised, two died, and one was lame, and the daughter also died. Married early.

After giving birth to so many sons, Bai Qi was the only one left in the end. At this time, Bai Qi's friend came over at night and stood outside the yard calling for someone.

"Everyone said that the seventh child is fine, and he specially asked the merchant to come over to report his safety to us earlier..." At this time, the third child also limped out of the house.

There are two sister-in-laws, Bai Qi and Bai Qi, who also came out to see what happened. At this time, women don't have to pay attention to staying out of the door, especially in this kind of borderland, and they are like them. The people in this family have to go out to fetch water every day on weekdays, and they often have to go to the city to find other jobs to supplement their household expenses.

There are also the few children at the head of the family, who didn't even think about it at this time, and they all came out to join in the fun after hearing the movement.

"Why are these little ones still awake?" Zhao Xing and his two had already carried their things into the yard at this time.

"I know how to mess around all day long, like a monkey, how can I sleep at this time." The old man Bai led the two of them to his own house, and asked Zhao Xing: "What do you have in your hand?"

"This is Bai Qi's salary last month." Zhao Xing replied.

"Why did you send it here?" The old man asked again.

"This time the work is far away from home, and the time is longer. I am afraid that my family will worry, so I made a special trip. If there is nothing to do next month, maybe I won't be able to come here for a while. We are on Yiwu's side. If you meet any familiar traders, ask them to come over and report your safety." Zhao Xing entered the house with Old Man Bai and others while talking.

"I've said that I'm going to work with the disciples of the Naluo county magistrate, so there's nothing to worry about..." The old man said this, and then he heard the children in the room suddenly burst into joy, as if from Zhao Xing What good food was there.

"What food did you buy with them?" This was not the first time Zhao Xing bought food for the children of the Bai family.

"It's just a few pieces of caramel, I didn't buy it, Bai Qi bought it from Yiwu and asked me to bring it back." Zhao Xing said and put the things in his hand on the kang table.

"Why is there so much salary in a month?" The grandmother of the Bai family also asked the same question.

"The salary for this job was originally promised a lot, and Bai Qi is a manager, so naturally he earns more than others." Zhao Xing had nothing to complain about in Bai's house, so he found a seat and asked Huang Youtian to sit first. Then he himself sat down.

The old man Bai asked Huang Youtian again, and Zhao Xing said that he was Luo Yong's disciple. This time he and Bai Qi and others were working in Yiwu, and they were under Huang Youtian's supervision.

The old man Bai hurriedly asked his daughter-in-law to pour tea, and told them to go eat, saying that Huang Langjun and the others came from Changle County so far away, so they must be hungry. Huang Youtian and the others were indeed hungry at this time, so he went No excuses.

Looking at the layout of the main room, it is quite spacious, but there are quite a lot of people in the family, there are people of all ages in this room, but fortunately, Bai Qi's two sister-in-laws are quite diligent, and they clean the inside and outside of the house very clean.

At this time, a brazier was lit in the room, and there were several needle-grinding racks beside it. It was obvious that the whole family was grinding needles around the brazier just now.Recently, there are some people in Dunhuang who are doing the work of grinding needles. They are all brought from Chang Le. The wages are lower than Chang Le's, but there are not many people doing it.

The business of the needle workshop in Changle County is really very good. Although several needle workshops have been opened in the Central Plains in the past two years, so traders from the Central Plains have seldom come to them to buy needles, but the Changle County Needle workshops are still in short supply every day.

Because the needles produced by their workshop are strong and easy to use, not to mention the Yiwu area of ​​Gaochang, even Turkic people come to them to buy needles, and many Hu merchants bring this needles to small countries in the Western Regions. I heard that The market is also good, even those caravans of Persian food, every time they pass through Changle County, they have to bring some needles back from here.

Because the needlework business is so good that the supply is always in short supply. In addition, the local population is relatively small and the labor force is not very sufficient. If the needlework expands infinitely, it may affect the development of other industries.

That's why Luo Yong wanted Hengzhi and the others to make the steam engine as soon as possible.In the early stage, I mainly plan to make some wire drawing and cutting machines. Later, I may also consider rough grinding. First, use a machine to grind roughly, and then use manual grinding, which can save a lot of manpower and improve efficiency.

As for the use of steam engines in transportation, such as trains, it may be difficult to realize them in Changle County for the time being.

The main thing is that the tracks here are made of wood. If you don’t carry it, it’s okay to walk with a light carriage. If you change it to a big locomotive and drive over it, it will probably be broken after two trips.

I heard from the businessmen who came and went that the wooden track between Chang'an and Luoyang seemed to be replaced with a railway track, and construction had started a few months ago.

It’s not that the entire track is made of iron, but a layer of iron is wrapped around the wooden track, which requires a lot of iron. Someone proposed to do this a long time ago, but there are many voices against it.

However, on the track between Chang’an and Luoyang, there are so many vehicles passing by every day, and there are a lot of cargo on it. The weather there is still relatively humid, and it rains every now and then. Destruction is sure to be quick.

This world is long, and the maintenance alone will cost a lot of manpower and material resources, so it is understandable to change the wooden track this time.I don't know if the Zheng family in Xingyang, who bought several iron mines and waited there, has made money this time.

Besides, in Dunhuang, Zhao Xing and Huang Youtian were not particularly particular people, and it was already so late at this time, old man Bai asked them to live here, so they stayed at Bai's house for one night.

The next morning, after eating the meal prepared by the sisters-in-law of the Bai family, the two of them left in a hurry.

After the two of them left, the Bai family members sat in the house and checked the money, silk and food they had sent. Last night, the light was too dim to see clearly, but now they can see clearly.

The money and silk had already been put away by the Bai family's grandma, so needless to say, the corn and wheat they brought this time were all new good grains from this year, and they were given a lot.

The fabric is not bad either, one big and one small two pieces of fabric, one piece of indigo blue, one piece of light cyan, and a few pieces of brightly colored cloth heads, the smallest one is only as big as two palms together, and the big one is as big as a chessboard. The two sister-in-laws of the Bai family couldn't put it down.

The little ones in the family are clamoring to eat noodles with fried sauce. In the past two years, this kind of food has also begun to spread in Dunhuang. The bean paste, shallots and garlic are fried in oil, poured on top of the noodles and mixed. eat.

Just now this bag of wheat grains was newly obtained, so the old man asked his family to clean up the millstone in the courtyard, and grind some flour to make a meal of noodles with fried sauce.

The children at the head of the family heard about it and cheered unceasingly. When the adults were working, they all laughed and laughed one after another, like a holiday.