clang farming notes

In the golden autumn and September, the weather in Yanbei has gradually cooled down, and a lot of people, horses and vehicles came on the official road to Jinyang City.This northern land is actually not difficult to walk, all the way is plain, and there is no rugged mountain road like the south, but when the sun is in the sky, it is still a bit hot, and when the sun sets, the temperature drops. If it was night, they had to be covered with thick quilts, and even those on duty had to gather around the fire to roast.

This group of people is the caravan of the Jiang family in the south of the Yangtze River. Although the Jiang family is not as good as the big official businessmen, it is also a time-honored brand with strong capital and many years of operation.It turned out that the Jiang family specialized in cloth and satin business, and it had been in business for several generations. Outsiders seemed to be still thriving, so there was no need to run north.It's just that the head of the Jiang family also had troubles. They fought wars in the past few years, so they had a lot of goods in their hands.This kind of material obviously can't be sold at a high price - people with a little money in the south of the Yangtze River all pay attention to fashion. joke.If the price is lowered and sold to poor families, it will naturally be sold, but the cost will be reduced-this kind of material is not one or two horses.But if you don't sell it, it will be even more difficult to keep it in your hands - there must be a place to store it, and someone will take care of it to prevent rats from biting insects.In the end, there was no other way. Hearing that Yanbei had opened a mutual market, the head of the Jiang family had an idea: Why do the barbarians in the North pay attention to what is fashionable or not?If you can use this outdated old fabric to exchange for the high-quality leather in the North, then it's not a profit at 01:30!That's how I got this trip.Of course, the one who followed was not the head of the family, but Jiang Maolin, the young master of the Jiang family.

It was estimated that it would take another day and a half to arrive at Jinyang City. Young Master Jiang made another round of inspection after nightfall, told the dart master about his hard work, and went to rest by himself.He was very tired from traveling every day. Although he was a mature man, he had many things to worry about in the past few days, and it was really hard. Thinking that he could have a good rest tomorrow, he felt better and fell asleep soon. up.

It's just that the more he slept, the colder he felt. His body was curled up together, but he still couldn't fight the chills, so Jiang Maolin had to get up.Only then did I realize that a lot of torches had already been lit outside the tent, and the guys were running around busy covering the truck with oilcloth—it turned out that it was actually raining.

Walking out of the tent, I saw that several cashiers who came with me this time also got up and were talking together. Even the Mr. Jiang sent by my uncle's house was there, so Jiang Maolin inevitably had to go over to say hello.This Mr. Jiang followed to see the medicinal materials——Jiang Maolin's uncle's family was in the business of medicinal materials. Hearing that the Jiang family was coming to the north, he sent someone to look at it, which was considered a ride on the Jiang family's ride.After exchanging pleasantries with each other, Jiang Maolin saw that Dongfang had turned pale, and saw that everyone could not sleep, so he said: "Everyone, it's already this hour, why don't you work harder and hurry to Jinyang City earlier? Have a good rest. When we get to the ground, Mr. Jiang will invite you all to have a good meal and sweep away the dust from the past few days!"

When the master's family spoke, all the people agreed one after another, and hurried on their way.

Unexpectedly, although the rain was not heavy, it was dripping and falling endlessly.Everyone said "an autumn rain and a cold", everyone felt this feeling today, those who have clothes hurriedly put on their clothes, and the soles of their feet became more and more tense, looking forward to the hot water in Jinyang City Eat a good meal to get rid of the cold, and then have a dry bed and a thick quilt, and sleep hard.

Unexpectedly, when we reached a fork in the road, two officials walked out of the grass pavilion on the side of the road and stopped the convoy.

A guy hurried forward to ask.The official looked at him sideways: "Are you a caravan from the south? Which one?"

"The Jiang family, the Jiang family in the south of the Yangtze River, the one who specializes in cloth business!"

"I haven't heard of it, is there this one?"

"I don't think there is one. I don't remember anyone with the surname Jiang."

The two officials said a few words like playing charades, and the one who looked sideways said: "You guys, you can't enter Jinyang City!"

The guy was in a hurry, he had traveled such a long distance, and suffered so much, why didn't he let him go to the city?

Another official said: "Are you a buddy? Let someone who can take care of you speak."

The little guy didn't dare to delay, so he ran to report to the master's house.Jiang Maolin was also in a hurry, so many goods have been shipped over, could something have happened?I couldn't sit still anymore, so I brought a servant and came together.

The two official servants had already returned to the thatched pavilion and waited. There was still a fire, and there were jugs and wine glasses on the table. Obviously, these two people came to have a drink or two from time to time to drive away the cold.Seeing Jiang Maolin bringing people over, he didn't hold back, stood up and waited, and cupped his hands.Jiang Maolin hurriedly returned the salute, and asked: "The two officials said they can't enter Jinyang City? I don't know why?"

"Well--" the official waited for a long time, and the boy who followed took a step forward, took out a big purse from his cuff, and stuffed it bulging into the official's hand: "The official has worked hard, and I can't help you!" Get some beer wine to drive away the cold."

He squeezed the purse in his hand, well, it was heavy enough, turned around and took out the official document stamped with the red official seal: "The superior has ordered that, except for a few officials and merchants, everyone else must be stationed outside the city."

Jiang Maolin took the official document and read it carefully, and it was really good.He sighed secretly, what else can he do now that he has reached this point?It can only be what people say and what they do.

"I would like to ask the officer to give me some advice, where should we be placed?" the boy asked with a wink.

The official was very happy to receive the money: "You go straight along the fork on the right, and you will arrive in two quarters of an hour."

No matter how dissatisfied he was, Jiang Maolin could only lead people into the fork. After this incident, everyone was more or less hit, and the atmosphere became more and more dull.

When they arrived at the camp, they realized that it was a large piece of flat land that was simply leveled and surrounded. It seemed that a caravan had already lived in it.Seeing that it wasn't my family who were driven out of the city to resettle, I felt a little more comfortable.Soon, someone guided them to a place, which was their camp for the past few days.

Some people around him had already pulled the official who led the way, stuffed some money, and asked the surrounding area clearly.

I went back and learned from Jiang Maolin: "...there is a river not far to the west, and it is convenient to get water. He said that we have to pay for the daily expenses of firewood, rice, oil and salt here, and we have to pay them some money - said there are soldiers. They patrol day and night. There is a shed at the back to tie up the animals, but those who feed and water have to come by themselves..."

Jiang Maolin gritted his teeth, this is not inconvenient at all outside the city, he has to do everything by himself.People who are not familiar with the place of life, where can I find these things?But you can't just make do with it. With so many people, they can't settle down and have to eat dry food, right?There are still some days before the exchange market.I thought it would be safer to arrive earlier, but I didn't expect this to be the case.

"This firewood, if you pick it up by yourself, is there anything else you can do now? It's been raining all day." Jiang Maolin asked, he must make a fire to drive away the cold. The land is not working?

The man replied: "Just now the man said that in the middle of the camp, there is a shed, which sells everything for food and use."

Jiang Maolin took a few people to the middle of the camp, and there was indeed a big shed with tables, chairs and benches inside.There are three or four stoves lined up in a row, and there are big pots steaming from them.Walking in, a boy of twelve or thirteen came out to say hello: "How many newcomers? Sit inside and drink a bowl of hot soup first to drive away the cold air."

Jiang Maolin was very interested, and started tossing around before dawn. He only ate a few pieces of dry food in the car, and now he had to drink a bowl of hot soup.

The young man took them to a table and sat down, without asking, he brought a few bowls of soup over.Jiang Maolin took it and saw that there was finely sliced ​​ginger floating in it, "We haven't ordered it yet, why did you order this? It's a good look." Jiang Maolin praised.

The young man smiled and said: "Everyone came from afar, there is nothing to entertain, this ginger soup is given for free, to drive away the cold air for everyone. Others, there is still time to talk about it."

Jiang Maolin picked up a bowl and took a sip. It tasted spicy but also a little sweet. It seemed that sugar was added. After tasting it, the soup was obviously not made casually.Just for this heart, it makes people feel good.

After drinking a bowl of soup, I was already slightly sweating, but I felt much more comfortable.

"Where's your master? We need to buy something." Jiang Maolin said.

The boy came over again just now: "If there is anything you want to buy, I will do it. This is my own business. It's just that some things are sold out, but you can make an order today, and we will bring them over tomorrow."

Jiang Maolin wondered: "Could it be that you are the only child in your family who came out to do business? I have a lot of things to buy here. Can you be the master?"

The young man said: "My uncle went to Uncle Yu, who leads the soldiers here, and went to talk in his tent. I'm afraid he will have to come back after a while. We only have a few things left here. Tell me the same."

It turned out that I was acquainted with the officials, so I wondered if I could sell things to the camp.Jiang Maolin raised his head and asked: "Then what else do you have? Tell me, and buy what you can use." You can't buy it, it's just so unique.

The boy smiled and narrowed his eyes, "It's raining, do you think you want some firewood to warm up the fire? We still have seven or eight bundles here, which are definitely dry and not damp at all; there are also two thick quilts; Today's vegetables and game are all sold out, if you want it, tell me and we will bring it to you tomorrow; here are some noodles, some bone soup, chicken soup, do you guys want to have dinner here?" said a slip Crunchy and crisp, it was obviously cooked.

Jiang Maolin said: "As you said, keep firewood and quilts. By the way, how much ginger soup do you have here? There are quite a few people in mine. How much noodles? Is it enough for dinner?"

The young man thought for a while: "The noodles are probably enough for 30 to [-] people. You don't need to charge for ginger soup even if you ask someone to drink it. It's just a good relationship between us. If you want to eat here, you have to hurry up— —We're going home in half an hour."

Jiang Maolin sent people back to ask people to come to eat—the noodles were probably less, but it was not bad to eat dry food with hot soup.Turning around, I made an appointment with the boy to bring more vegetables and game tomorrow.

The young man responded one by one, and took out a pen and paper to write it down. After blowing on it, he folded the paper and put it in his pocket, then turned to turn on the stove to cook the noodles.While he was busy with his work, a boy-faced youth of eighteen or nineteen years old came in: "Da Zhu, is there anyone here at this hour?"

The young man responded: "That's not it, no, I want to eat noodles. Uncle An, you came back? I was thinking that Uncle Yu would not let you come back easily."

The young man waved his hand: "He was so bored in the rain that he insisted on dragging me to drink. How can this be done? He will have to drive back later."

Du An turned around and walked up to Jiang Maolin, and bowed slightly: "I have neglected the guests, please sit down less, and I will come up to you."

Jiang Maolin didn't take it too seriously, he turned around to avoid it, and gave a half-respect: "I haven't thanked you for the free ginger soup, but the boss is really polite."

Duan said: "It's not worth anything, it's cold, don't make a fuss about it. It's not easy to go all the way, just wait a moment."

Turn around and get busy with Da Zhu.