North and South groceries

A few days later, Du Qilang returned from Hedong Road, and soon caused waves in Chang'an City.

The former famous prostitute Bai Yeying, who was already on the verge of death, had the same scenery for a time because of a new poem by Du Qilang and a peony cushion. The young grasses were all turned into residues in seconds.

Speaking of which, the method of calculating age at this time is really a bit tricky. Bai Yeying was born at the end of the year. According to the calculation of later generations, she is only 26 years old now, which is a good time of youth. When she arrives here, she will be counted as 28 years old. I'm 29 years old, and after a few months, I'll pass the New Year's Eve, but I'm [-], and I'm very close to [-].

But at this time, literati still have to talk about sentiment and taste. They go to a brothel to listen to a song or something, and they don’t always go for those slick girls. What these people pursue is more often elegance, Even if there is any food for sex, it must be packaged in a beautiful outer skin, and it is precisely because of this that Bai Yeying has a chance to counterattack strongly.

For a period of time after that, the legend of Bai Yeying and her peony cushion spread in the streets and alleys of Chang'an City.

Those who are lucky enough to see her are said to be astonished, and they complement each other with the boundless charm of Bai Yeying, which is too beautiful to behold.

On this day, several gentlemen were drinking in a certain restaurant in the square, and some people talked about this matter during the dinner.

"It's just a small piece of cushion, it's ridiculous to be praised so much." One of the young and vigorous men said with a disapproving expression.

"Has Liu Lang seen that mat?" asked his friend at the same table.

"So what if you don't see it?" The young gentleman said indifferently: "It's just a cushion, it doesn't matter if you see it or not."

"Liu Lang's words are wrong." The other green-robed gentleman at the same table laughed.

"How do you say that?" The young man who was called Liu Lang was not convinced.

"I was lucky enough to see that peony cushion once." The green-robed gentleman said with a smile.

"What do you think, Brother Ji?" Someone immediately asked at the table.

"It's really a wonderful thing." Qingpao Lang Jun praised.

"What kind of magic method?" The previous man was still not convinced.

"The peony flower on the cushion looks like the real thing at first glance, but it is also very exquisite when you look closely. When I made this thing, I was very clever in coloring it. It's just a petal, and I used red to decorate it." White, pink, blue, green, dark ochre, etc. There are many colors but not mixed. Many colors are only used in key places. The same color is used thickly in some places and thin in some places. It is very particular. Most people don’t look carefully. Ken didn't know that he used so many colors, he just felt as if he saw a real flower, and he had to observe it carefully to know the subtlety..."

Hearing his detailed talk, all the gentlemen at the wine table felt a little itchy, looking forward to seeing the legendary peony cushion sometime, but unfortunately, with their backgrounds, they are afraid I can't see Bai Yeying.

Several people were talking excitedly when they suddenly heard a commotion downstairs.

"What's going on?" One person asked the shop assistant.

"Sirs, there are some bullock carts coming from Hedong Road downstairs, and they are about to go to Ma's business. I heard that they have peony mats on the carts. No, they were stopped by someone. I want to buy it." The young shop assistant said excitedly.

"Really?" A few people went to the window, looked out of the window, and sure enough, they saw a bunch of long gowns, short brown and bearded people, and the little lady in dresses jumping up and down among them. Together, they surrounded the ox carts.

"Hey, are you guys from Ma's Firm?" Someone raised his voice and asked.

"No, we're going to return the ox carts, and we'll stop by them." These men who drove the carts were bewildered by the enthusiastic and tough Chang'an people, but fortunately, there were still one or two of them who could barely hold on to the scene.

"Then where are you going to ship these goods to sell?" Someone asked again immediately.

The Ma's business is not far from here, and people in this area basically know it, but since they are not from the Ma's business, they probably won't sell in the Ma's business. Where to sell, they have to advance Make sure it's not.

"I haven't thought about it yet." A man said honestly.

"Hey, that's just right, you don't have to think about it, just sell it here." Everyone booed.

"That's right, it's sold here." The commotion suddenly broke out.

The men driving the car looked at each other. They were walking on the road just now, and when they heard someone mention the peony cushion, the brothers exchanged a word with each other. He was caught by someone, no, he was blocked in the street.

It is said that Luo Yong made a good deal with Du Xi earlier, and asked a dozen of his disciples to come to Chang'an with his people, and help him drive the ox cart by the way, and by the way, they also rented two ox carts from the Ma's firm. , the finished wool felt mats that I saved before are basically here.

"There are too many people, I'm afraid of chaos." The men were very hesitant, for fear that if there was a chaos later, the two carts would have to be snatched away.

Just after entering the city, someone from the Du family came to pick up their belongings, and the rest of them found out the location of Ma's business, so they planned to go there first. I don't have many friendships, but at least they came from the same place, so you should feel at ease.

I didn't expect that I was almost there, and I was blocked by people just because I didn't keep my mouth shut for a while. This small street in the square is not like the avenue outside. There are patrols all the time. People control.

"What are you afraid of?"

"No mess, no mess..."

"Don't dawdle, just put it out and sell it."

"Put it out, put it out."

"Tell me, how much does one sell for? I just happen to have money with me today."

These people are stuck there in a mess, unable to leave even if they want to, or else... sell it?

"Two hundred Wen each." A man tried to ask for a price.

Before leaving, Luo Yong also told them that the price of the cushions was up to them to decide. Anyway, he sold them for [-] Wen each, and sent them all the way to Chang'an City, so they had to sell them for [-] Wen Of course, if the market is really bad, or when the situation is difficult, you have to sell even if you are losing money.

Seeing so many people here at this moment, all of them looked enthusiastic. One of the men became more courageous and called out a price of two hundred Wen.

"..." There was silence among the crowd.

"What's your mat like, show us first." Two hundred Wen?Peony cushion?Just kidding!Don't be different, it's just a joy.

Those men were also agitated by the change in attitude of these people. If you think about it, you can take it out. Anyway, it’s not something shameful. They transported those mats all the way to Chang’an City. But not just to sell money.

"Okay." After the men exchanged a look, they had reached a consensus.

When someone lifted the corner of the oiled paper on the bullock cart and took out a wool felt cushion from it, because he had heard these people talking about the peony cushion, so what he took out at this time was also a peony pattern, but this cushion, Biro used the one that was handed over to Du Xi earlier, and the size was much smaller, just a normal-sized cushion.

"Two hundred coins! I want this mat!" Everyone saw that the mat was still that kind of mat, even if it was a little smaller. Come on!

"I want it too, I want it too!" The crowd immediately exploded, and everyone shouted to buy it.

"Come one by one! Come one by one!"

"I want to buy a pair!"

"I came first, you have to get it for me first."

"Give me five pairs of peony patterns!"

"I want two pairs, two pairs, two pairs!"

"Hey, don't squeeze the ones behind."

"Have you finished buying the previous ones? Hurry up and come out after buying them."

"There are also patterns like green pine and green bamboo here."

"I don't want green pine ones, but peony ones."

"Hey, this peony flower is also pretty."

"What kind of flower is this?"

"Is this epiphyllum?"

"Lotus lotus! Bring me two more pairs of lotus!"

"Where's the peony? Is there any peony left?"

A group of old men bought all kinds of charming designs. Originally, Luo Yong specially made those green pine and green bamboos in consideration of the preferences of literati, but they were not very popular.

Oh, while talking, I forgot about the previous few people, that is, the few people who were talking about the peony cushions in the restaurant, and now they are no longer staying upstairs, and they are huddled in the crowd talking to people Grab the mat.

Even the dear friend who was very disapproving of the legend of the peony cushion earlier shouted: "Peony Peony, give me another peony pattern, I am not right here."

"Hey, don't worry, don't worry, come one by one, come one by one."

These men from Lishi County were really overwhelmed by the spending power of Chang'an people. A cushion costs two hundred Wen, and these people are still rushing to buy it.

But they don't know that following the trend has never been cost-effective, and the money that is so easy to earn is basically like this. If someone imitates this kind of mat and competes, the price will be hard to come by.

·

The city of Chang'an was full of excitement, but Lishi County was much quieter. After harvesting the crops and paying all kinds of taxes, the weather was getting colder. In mid-September, it began to frost here.

This year the government did not issue corvee, so the people here need to hand in cloth, and the corvee can be folded into cloth three feet seven inches and five cents a day.

One day is three feet, seven inches and five cents, and 20 days is seven feet and five feet. If it is a leap year, an additional two days will be required.

Although the corvee is hard, but so much cloth, but not every household can afford it, especially some families have more than one male, like the Lin family has four brothers, handing it over in one breath, but it is several piece of fabric.

In recent years, corvée has not been very heavy, so many families would rather serve corvée than produce this fabric, but it is a pity that such matters are not in their own hands.

This is only part of the corvee. In addition, every Ding has to pay two stones of grain per year as rent, and there are two feet and four feet of cloth and three catties of hemp as adjustments.

Rent and adjustment are paid by dime, that is, there are several males in the family, and they pay a few. Luo Yong is not a dime, so there is no need to pay these, but the land tax and household tax are paid by every household. As long as you If there is a population and land, there is no way to hide.

Land tax, also known as land rent, is paid according to the amount of land.Household tax is paid by household, and this household tax is relatively heavy and complicated, probably because of this tax. At this time, people basically will not take the initiative to separate the family, because separating the family means paying an extra share. household tax.

When people in later generations think of autumn, it is the golden autumn and October, the season of fruitful and bumper harvests.At this time, when people think of autumn, they think of taxes and corvees, heavy burdens, and the long winter that is coming soon.

On this day, Luo Yong saw that the weather was fine, so he drove the donkey cart to the county seat. Recently, he heard that people from other counties in the city came to sell pears.

Earlier, two disciples brought some pears for him. Luo Yong took the pears and wiped them with his sleeves before chewing on them. However, his disciples laughed at him, saying that the pears had to be steamed. Eat it, or bake it, but not raw.

Being treated as a bumpkin for a while, Luo Yong felt a little helpless, he just steamed it and stewed it. He never knew that pears could be eaten roasted.

But no matter how you eat it, the taste of the pears is really good. Erniang and the others like it very much. There is nothing to do this day, so Luo Yong drove the donkey cart into the city and planned to buy more. Some days are not easy to break.

Du Xi had bought a lot of things from him before, and had paid off the debt from last time. Luo Sanlang now has money on hand.

In the past two days, the weather has become colder and colder. It has just passed September, and a thick layer of frost is about to fall at night.

Erniang stopped knitting woolen socks recently, and started knitting sweaters and trousers for the brothers and sisters in the family. Among them, Luo Yong was the first to wear the sweaters and trousers she knitted, because he often had to go out.

Although Si Niang would go out from time to time, from Er Niang's point of view, she was just running around. If Si Niang refused to go out one day because she was too cold, Er Niang would have to be happy for her.

When Er Niang was knitting a sweater, she listened to Luo Yong's suggestion and knit him a high-necked one. As for the color, considering the cost, Luo Yong chose a dark gray for herself. Black is also good, but pure black It's more expensive, and it's not worth it to wear it yourself.

The inside is a dark gray turtleneck sweater, and the outside is a dark blue robe. This robe was made for him by Luo Mu in the early years. It is filled with cotton, that is, silk. Shemai, Luo's mother also considered that he would go to the county to study, so she made this suit for him. In order to wear it for a few more years, the clothes were made wider, and there was still fabric left in the sleeves.

Some time ago when the weather was cold, Luo Yong took out this dress to wear again. Erniang saw that his sleeves were short, so she helped him to let out another part. In this way, the sleeves were long enough, and there was a circle around the cuffs. The color of the fabric is different from other places, Luo Yongquan regards it as decoration.

He was wearing a sweater and wool trousers, and cashmere socks and thick cloth shoes on his feet. Wearing this outfit, he didn't feel cold when he went out in a donkey cart.

Just walking, the sky has changed. The sunny and fine weather has turned into a drowsy and windy day. Luo Yong thinks that there is not much road left, so he just didn't turn back and continued to the direction of the county. As a result, before they had time to enter the city, snowflakes floated in the air again.

It's just arrived in October, and this year's snow really came early.

Luo Yong had to put on the coir raincoat that was in the car.After all, this era is no better than later generations, the transportation is not developed, and everywhere is desolate. When going out, those who have the conditions generally have to prepare a coir raincoat and oil paper for themselves, so as not to be hit by the rain and snow.

This time it was windy and snowy, and the weather became colder and colder. Luo Yong was wearing a coir raincoat and sat on a donkey cart, flickering towards the direction of the county town. He just wanted to get there quickly and go to a familiar restaurant to have a bowl of hot water. Soup.

After finally entering the city, it was almost past noon, and the five couples were tired, hungry and cold at this time. After entering the city, there was no need to say anything, and they hurried to the familiar soup and pancake shop.

"Woo!" Never thought, before reaching the place, Luo Yong told it to stop.

"Ang...Ang..." Although the five couples were not happy, they had no choice but to take a few steps slowly and stopped on the side of the street.

Perhaps it was because of the wind and snow, the streets were empty and there were no people there, even the ox carts and horse-drawn carriages were rare, probably all of them were placed in the yard, after all the oxen and horses could not stand the wind and snow.

"Old man, how do you sell your pears?"

Luo Yong didn't expect that he would meet a pear seller as soon as he came. It was really not easy in such bad weather.The pears in their baskets were also bigger, better than the ones his disciples had brought to him earlier.

"Two cents apiece." The old pear seller was squatting in the corner with his arms folded.

The reason why they would push a cart of pears and walk such a long way to sell pears from Shixian County is that they heard that many merchants came here and they could sell them at a good price. It snowed so early.

"If you buy more, you can pay three for five cents." The speaker was a young man in his teens, who should be the grandson of the old man.

The cold wind whizzed past this empty street with snowflakes wrapped in it. This young man didn't wear much, but he didn't crouch in the corner like his grandfather. Luo glanced at his thin clothes , I just feel cold for a while.

The author has something to say:

Fang: It probably means a residential area.

There are 108 squares in Chang'an City, and there are two east and west cities.