North and South groceries

Luo Yong lived in Xu Erlang's courtyard that night, and after dinner, some disciples from the city gathered one after another.

When everyone arrived, Luo Yong demonstrated to them the more time-saving and labor-saving felting method that he had just figured out recently.

The craftsmanship of these dozen or so disciples is very good. Although the felting time is not as long as that of Luo Yong, Luo Yong is not the strongest among these people in terms of craftsmanship.

Xu Erlang lit several oil lamps in the room, but the light was still dim. Luo Yong used this kind of light to make a demonstration, and told them his recent experience in felt making, and then talked with his disciples We had an exchange.

Among them was a disciple surnamed Yang. This time, he took several wool felt needles made of iron needles. These wool felt needles were single-headed, double-headed, or multi-headed, with different thicknesses. After trying it, I found it very useful, so I am very happy.

"Is this thing made by Shiro?" The principle of strength in numbers is probably reflected in these places. Where Luo Yong can't take care of it, other people can help him think of it.

"This thing was made by my mother-in-law." Yang Silang said.

"Your couple are both ingenious people." Luo Yongzan said.

"She also pokes a few more mats and earns a few more copper coins." Yang Silang said with a smile.

Speaking of it, after the craftsmanship of wool felt is improved, the production speed in the early stage will become faster and faster, but if you want to make the whole felt surface look smooth, delicate and delicate, the last step of poking is very important, and it is quite expensive. Kung fu will not speed up much with the improvement of craftsmanship.

On weekdays, Yang Silang made felt at home, and his wife brought a few dolls to help him with the last step of stabbing. The speed of their post-construction work could not keep up with the speed of felt making, so they had to send out the manual work Do it for neighbors, so that you can earn two pennies less for a cushion.

This Yang Silang's wife had also suffered from poverty in the past, and she felt very sorry for the two coins. On weekdays, she would poke the mat at her own home as if struggling for her life. At first, she used a thin bamboo stick, and later she used several thin bamboo sticks with a rope. Bundle them into a bunch and poke a small piece at a time, but for some reason, the mats that are poked out are not as delicate as a thin bamboo stick. Although I can earn more copper coins, I still worry that my mats are not well made. Luo Yong would be dissatisfied with her husband, so he had to give up the bamboo stick.

Even so, she kept thinking about this matter in her heart all the time, and wanted to improve the tools so that the work of poking the mat could be accelerated.After constant thinking and trying, she finally came up with such a set of tools. Now when his husband is making felt, he also uses the single-ended poking needles and double-ended poking needles she made.

Yang Silang brought this set of tools over here today, apart from exchanging information with his fellow disciples, he naturally wanted to give it to his master.

"Since this thing was made by your wife, how can I get it for nothing?" Luo Yong smiled and took out ten coins from his body and handed it to him.

"Not so much." The disciple quickly declined.The iron needles of this era are not cheap, but no matter how expensive they are, these small tools can’t cost two or three renminbi, because the purchasing power of copper coins at this time is very strong, and a bucket of corn only costs about five renminbi.

"Your wife is so ingenious, why can't she earn these few pennies?" Once this tool was made, it provided a lot of convenience for their felting process.Speaking of it, Luo Yong felt that he had taken advantage of it.

"Master is right. I also want a set of tools like this. Let your mother-in-law make one for me." Immediately, other people paid for this tool.

In fact, once such a tool is taken out, they can make it themselves after seeing it, and it doesn't cost the ten cents. However, since this thing was created by the wife of Yang Silang, she should naturally be asked to earn some money. Recently, they are busy making felt every day, and they really can't spare the time to toss about it. Even today when the master enters the city, they still have to be busy until after dark.

"So, I would like to thank everyone for my mother-in-law and aunt." Yang Silang was also happy.

When he went back and told his mother-in-law about this matter, she didn't know how happy she would be. A pair of tools costs ten pennies, but she can make several pairs a day, earning tens of pennies a day. For an ordinary woman who has never made a lot of money, it is almost like raining money from the sky.

The master and apprentice narrated a few more words, and Luo Yong asked them to go back to rest early. It was also a busy day, and they went back to sleep tonight, and they had to get up again before dawn tomorrow. live.

The Xu family’s yard is not big, but the population is quite large. Now Aunt Xu’s family is here again, and it’s a bit crowded to live in. Under such circumstances, Luo Yong originally refused to occupy another room by himself, but the Xu family did He was very persistent and vacated the room for him early on, resolutely refusing to ask him to sleep with others, but he refused, so Luo Yong had no choice but to accept their kindness in the end.

Early the next morning, Xu's family got up early to work, and Luo Yong also got up early with them. After eating, he declined Xu Erlang's company, and drove the donkey cart to the livestock market alone.

Now that there are so many extra fields in his family, he will buy the healthy cattle needed for plowing and plowing the land sooner or later. He just walked around the livestock market, but he didn't find a suitable one, and the price was higher than before. Quite a few, presumably because in recent days, many foreigners have bought ox carts in Lishi County.

It is said to be a livestock market, but it is actually a dilapidated small yellow mud street with three or five merchants dealing in livestock trading on both sides of the street.

Local people sometimes come here to have a look when they want to buy livestock, but most of them rely on acquaintances to match them and sell them directly from the villagers. They can also trade grain, which is much more affordable than in this county.

Luo Yong drove the carriage out of this small street, intending to buy some meat, vegetables, and salt, and went back to Xipo Village. After turning a corner, he saw many people surrounded by the street. Luo Yong was sitting on a donkey cart, If you look over there, you will see the human trade going on under the wall over there.

Ever since he came here, Luo Yong knew that in this era, living people can be bought with money, but he never thought about buying people, and he always adopted an evasive attitude towards these things, so he couldn't be Savior, it is better to be out of sight than to feel uncomfortable when you see it.

At this time, he also adhered to his usual attitude, turned his face away as if he hadn't seen it, and drove the donkey cart to the downtown area.

He didn't go a few steps, but he pulled the rein again, making the five pairs stop.

"Is there anyone who knows how to do farm work?" Luo Sanlang walked to the bottom of the wall, looked at the row of boys and girls for sale, and asked.

This year, their grain harvest in Lishi County is not bad, and the price of grain is also very stable, and he has developed products such as Yanerfei wool felt, so many families have found income. Although the income is still meager, it will not be so embarrassing. If you can't live on, you need to sell your sons and daughters.

The young men and women in front of me are all pretty good-looking, and they are all between ten and twenty years old. Presumably, some people saw that there are a lot of rich people in the city recently, so they pulled out the slaves they bought earlier and resold them. , Buying at a low price and selling at a high price, this is what business is all about.

"Cough cough!" A middle-aged man in a robe next to him coughed and greeted Luo Yong with a smile, "It was Luo Sanlang, why is he still in the city today?"

He was polite on the surface, but cursed bad luck in his heart. In fact, he came out today to try his luck. What if he met a fat sheep?Those gentlemen from Chang'an City have a lot of money in their hands. If they meet, they will just take out a few taels.Now the supply of this product is getting less and less, and the price is low, so he doesn't want to sell it at all.

"I, I know how to do farm work." At this moment, a short, dark boy under the wall said timidly.

"What do you know? You are so old that you have never touched farm tools. If you dare to lie to Mr. Wang, be careful that I will peel off your skin!" the middle-aged man said fiercely.

"I can also do farm work." At this time, another tall and beautiful girl said loudly.

The middle-aged man looked at her in a blink of an eye, his eyes were full of fierceness, his mind turned around, and he opened his mouth and said: "You foxy son, you were sold to serve others at the age of five, what kind of farm work do you do? Could it be Luo Sanlang is young and kind-hearted, what crooked idea did he have?"

"What is the price of these two people?" Luo Yong didn't seem to hear his words at all.

"If Saburo wants to buy people to go back to do farm work, he will naturally choose those who are strong and able to do heavy work. The current situation may not be suitable for buying back." The attitude of the man also became a little tough.

"Just tell me how much it is." Luo Yong didn't show it on his face, and his attitude was also tough.

The other party saw that the coffin board couldn't make any sense, and with a coffin face, he couldn't send it away, so he opened his mouth and said, "Sanlang really wants to buy it, so let's count it as ten copper coins for you."

"Which family are you from?" Luo Yong frowned, looking directly at the other person's face, and asked.

"..." The man choked when he asked. Could it be that this coffin planer is going to settle accounts with him after Qiuhou? Considering the influence of this man in Lishi County, and thinking about the rich merchants who have contacts with him Hu, if I offend Luo Sanlang today, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do business in the future.

"Damn, why don't you grab it if you sell it for ten pennies?" At this time, some of the people watching around couldn't stand it.

"Last year I saw that you were buying children in the city, and you paid [-] Wen per person." Another person exposed his old background.

Many onlookers talked nonsense. At this time, most of the people were honest and honest. Many of them had been on the battlefield, and they were somewhat bloody. They all feel helpless, since they can't survive, it's better to sell than starve to death.

But today this person is really outrageous. In the past, he dared to ask Luo Sanlang for ten pennies of boys and girls who could be bought for less than ten pennies. With such a skinny appearance, how dare he ask for ten pennies?It's so deceiving!

"Sanlang, I know this person, he is that..." On the spot, someone turned up the background of the middle-aged man, and even reported the name of the shop opened by his relatives in the city.

"I lost my head at a certain moment just now. Don't be offended by Saburo. These are good goods. I brought them out today, and I really planned to sell them for ten copper coins. Since Sanlang wants to buy them, I will sell them for five copper coins. How about with you?" The middle-aged man was quite flexible.

"This two-pound money, that one-pound money." Luo Yong first pointed to the tall girl, and then pointed to the black and thin boy.

"Sanlang, you are really embarrassing someone." The man's face was very ugly.

"What's the matter? I think this price is very fair. Saburo has never cheated you." A burly man standing on the scene said righteously.

"If it weren't for the many nobles who came to the city recently, I wouldn't be able to sell so many copper coins." Why are there so many nobles in their city?Wasn't it because of Luo Sanlang, if he wanted to put it aside in previous years, that black and skinny boy could be sold for the usual money?Go dreaming.Even for that girl who is not bad looking, it depends on luck and the market. It is really kind to give him two pennies.

"If you are really in trouble, you don't have to sell it." Luo Yong said.

If you don't buy these two people back today and let them fall into the hands of the seller again, I'm afraid they will really be stripped of their skins.Luo Yong just asked, if no one answered, then that's all. If someone answered, and this matter was his choice, it must be dealt with to the end.

These two people, he must buy today.You say not to sell?Then I have to think about the consequences. With Yiluo's current influence in Lishi County, how difficult is it to squeeze out a few people?So what if he is bullying others today.

……

At noon, there was heavy snow again in the sky.

Luo Sanlang drove the donkey cart out of the city gate, followed by a pair of young men and women, one short and one tall, and the two finally completed the transaction at the price Luo Yong offered, without paying any more money.

There are so many poor people in this world, for those whose spines have been completely broken, Luo Yong has nothing to do, and there are some who originally wanted to get a better life for themselves by contacting noble people, He also had no intention of blocking the opponent's way.

Only these two young men and women dared to say that they could do farm work in front of the trafficker and were willing to be bought by him.Luo Yong couldn't leave the two of them alone.

If you care about all these nosy things, there will definitely be many troubles in the future...

Looking at the heavy snow in the sky, Luo Yong secretly sighed in his heart.The more things he wants to do and the more things he wants to manage, the more dangerous he will put himself in. It's not that he doesn't understand this truth.