North and South groceries

In the next few days, people kept coming from Chang'an City, including merchants and people from big families. They all went to Xipo Village to find Luo Yong, and wanted to buy peony cushions from Luo Yong.

The name Peony Cushion originally meant a peony-patterned cushion. It has been used by these people recently, and it seems to have become synonymous with this kind of wool felt cushion. It is like a brand. No matter what the pattern is, you can call it Peony cushion.

It happened that Luo developed some new patterns during this period, and these samples were placed in his grocery store. The price of each cushion is different because of the size, color used, and complexity of the pattern.

The earliest batch of round cushions with flower patterns were sold for only [-] Wen each, and the prices of other cushions were either expensive or cheap, all based on this fixed price as a reference.

After the peony cushion became popular, people who rushed to Xipo Village to buy goods at the first time would naturally not begrudge the consistent money, and they all placed orders for the biggest and most expensive blankets. Of course, If you can have other styles, bring a little more by the way, they don't mind too much.

Luo Yong and his disciples are very busy these days. Luo Yong is mainly busy dealing with those who come to buy goods. He is so impatient that he can't wait to urge him five or six times a day. Fortunately, Luo Yong is not like Heng Yu. Generally, they will be anxious with them, regardless of what the other party says, anyway, they are shipping one by one according to the order, it is impossible to insert the order, regardless of whether it is soft or hard, it will not work, it will be a big deal if you are in a hurry do your business.

On this day, a restaurant in Lishi County.

The two guests were sitting opposite each other on the hot kang, drinking warm wine, when they suddenly heard the sound of horseshoes outside, and after a while, a young man appeared at the door of the restaurant in the wind and snow, and handed over the horses to the restaurant. Dude, lift the curtain and walk into the store.

"How? What did Luo Sanlang say?" Seeing him coming, the two asked quickly.

"It's useless for me to wear out my mouth, Luo Sanlang is a man who won't get in." The man said, and sat down on the kang.

"Tsk, the name of the coffin board is indeed not for nothing, come here, have a sip of hot wine first."

"That's all right, we came early."

"You don't have to worry about being robbed by others."

"Does he know that you and I are together?"

"I don't know."

"That's good, if I knew it earlier, we should divide it into three trips."

"Who would have thought that there would be a limited purchase."

"..."

It turned out that these three people came from the same big family. They went to Xipo Village together that day. The two entered the courtyard of the Luo family, while the other was watching the horses outside. When he was told about the purchase restriction, he reported his husband's name. The number is not easy to use, and in the end there is really no way, so I have to place an order and it will come out.

The next day, the three of them thought about it and asked the companion who hadn't shown his face in front of Luo Yong to place another order.

Today is to ask this person to remind the order. First, they are really anxious. The sooner they get the peony cushion, the better. Second, it is also to test Luo Yong's attitude. If Luo Yong just let go, the matter will be afraid It's a little troublesome.

·

In fact, it's not just these people who are anxious.

Most of Luo Yong's disciples came from poor backgrounds, and they learned that each of those big carpets can sell for one or two taels. As for the neighbors, it is not easy to ask them to do other things, it is always okay to poke the mat.

This is also Luo Yong's instruction. Take these mats home and make them. If the family members want to learn, they can also teach them, but they still need to be careful not to spread this craft to the outside world for a while.It doesn't matter if you poke the cushion.

In the afternoon of this day, several members of the Xu family brothers were making carpets in their houses.The three of his brothers are all good at craftsmanship, so they didn't go to Chang'an this time, but stayed in Lishi County.

Although you can earn some money and food when you go out to cook a kang for others, it is not as stable as at home. It is thousands of miles away, and the journey is very long. They have wives and children at home. Now that they have learned the craft of making wool felt cushions, they are more willing. If you stay at home, even if you want to go out and make a living, you have to wait until the dolls at home grow up.

"Erlang, do you think my cushion is OK?" A neighbor came over with two stamped circular flower-patterned cushions under heavy snow.

"Let me see." Xu Erlang handed the mallet to his eldest son, got up and moved to the edge of the kang, took the two seat cushions brought by the other party, looked at them carefully, and said: "It was very carefully poked. "

Hearing what he said, the other party immediately smiled and frowned: "That's good, the first time I do it, I'm always worried that I can't do it well."

"Do you want to take some back to make?" Xu Erlang took the two cushions, took out four copper plates from the kang head cabinet, and handed them to the other party, and asked again.

"Whatever you want, whatever you want, if you're idle, you'll be idle anyway. It's just right to do this job. You can do it while nestling on the kang head, and you won't be exposed to the wind or the cold." The other party said hastily.

"Then this time, you can take the big one back." Xu Erlang got off the kang with his shoes, and took out a peony cushion rolled into a long tube from a side shelf. This is the most fashionable style nowadays. , about 1.5 meters in size, there are several different patterns, the best-selling of which is the peony flower pattern.

"If you poke a piece like this, you can get [-] Wen. If you have a large family, you should be able to do it in three to five days." Xu Erlang said to his neighbor.

"Okay, then let's poke a big one this time." The neighbor guessed in his heart that this big mat should not be as big as ten small ones, and it would be worth twenty cents each.

The neighbor took the work and went back to do it, so Xu Erlang went to his two brothers' houses to look around, and when he saw that there was anything lacking in color, he promptly added it.

In addition, every three to five days, he would go to the homes of several other fellow apprentices in the city to replenish them with some dyed wool, and collect the finished mats in time, if there is enough to ship , So I asked those peddlers who traveled between Xipo Village and Lishi County to send a message, asking Luo Yong to come and collect money to ship the goods.

Every time Luo Yong went to the city, he would pull a cart full of wool to Xueji cloth workshop, and hand it to Xue Weng for dyeing.

Due to the popularity of the peony cushions, the business of Xue Ji Cloth Shop has also boomed recently. The wool that Luo Yong pulls every time is enough for Xue Weng's family to keep busy.In fact, it's not just Xueji Cloth Shop, the business of many merchants in the city is much better than before, especially those restaurants and guest houses.

These days, many people in the city took the work of poking mats to do it at home. This work does not have much technical content, and even the elderly and children can do it.

Sitting on the hot kang and doing some small work can earn copper coins. For these poor and accustomed people in small towns, this is almost like picking up money. Poking less mats and making less money than others, after passing this village, I don’t know if there is such a shop.

"Aniang, my hands hurt so much." The child's hands are tender, and after holding the bamboo stick for a long time, blisters will appear on his hands.

"Let me take a look." The mother took a look at the cloth strip on his finger, and saw that the blister inside had already burst, so she said distressedly: "If your hand hurts, take a rest."

On the side, there are two older children, silently poking their heads into the mat. Most of the older children have experienced starvation and know that as long as they poke the mat out, their family can earn copper coins. If you buy food with money, you won't be afraid of going hungry.

Although their family is much better now than before, as Ye Niang said, it is unknown whether such a good thing will happen in the future. Now that they have this money to earn, they will naturally earn more.

Many people in the county are busy making cushions and poking cushions, and Xipo Village is not idle here either. Those solid-colored cushions are made very quickly, but it takes some effort to poke them. The Lin family can't poke them out by themselves. I had to take it out and ask others to help me.

If it was in Xipo Village, Luo Yong had already paid two cents for the workmanship fee. If they paid a lower price, naturally no one would do it.If you get it from Mrs. Lin's sister-in-law Lin's natal home, a mat will cost you a penny and a half, and many villagers will rush to make it.

Sister-in-law Lin and Second-sister-in-law Lin can’t always go to her natal family. The Lin family is also making tofu recently, and the family also has work to do. If it delays weaving, Mother Lin will definitely not agree. A lot of fabrics are required for mediocrity, and if you don't weave fabrics on weekdays, what should you do when it's time to pay taxes?

So every time I come back to Xipo Village, the people who hand in the mats and take the mats are usually the natal brothers of Mrs. Lin and Mrs. Lin.

One day, when Luo Yong was cooking pig food, he saw an old man walking into the village carrying what was suspected to be a bundle of wool felt cushions. After asking someone, he found out that the other party was actually the father of Mrs. Lin.

Such an old man actually wants to walk out in such a windy and snowy day. I don't know what kind of situation it is in the second sister-in-law Lin's family.

At this time, males served corvee service for 21 years starting at the age of 40, and under normal circumstances, they started at the age of 60.

It's just that in this era, how many people can live to be 60 years old, and heavy labor makes people age quickly.The father of Second Sister-in-law Lin is not yet sixty now, but he already has such a gray-haired appearance.

"Old man, it's windy and snowy today, and the roads are hard to walk. Do you want me to take you in a donkey cart?" When he came out of the village, Luo Yong stood in front of the thatched hut next to the pigsty and raised his voice to him.

"No, no, no, it's not too far, we'll be there just by walking." The father of Lin's second sister-in-law repeatedly waved his hands and refused, carrying a bundle of wool felt mats on his back, and walking on the snow with his rough feet wearing straw sandals. After a while, he couldn't see clearly. I'm in shape, the snow is really heavy today.