North and South groceries

The operation of the cement workshop is also going smoothly. Recently, the spring plowing has just passed, and many farmers in the surrounding area are rushing to work in their government-run cement workshop to earn money during this slack time.

The artificial composition of this cement workshop is a bit complicated. There are farmers, some herdsmen, and some humble or even black households. There are also a lot of barbarians.

Because it's just some relatively simple manual labor, they didn't make too careful selection when hiring workers. Originally, Changle County was underpopulated. Strange, as long as they have a lot of strength and can do physical work, they are willing to ask for it.

Of course, if someone caused trouble during the work, it would be trivial to drive them out. If the circumstances were serious, they would definitely be arrested. How to deal with them at that time would all be in accordance with the "Tang Law".

The folk customs here are quite tough, and Apu is still a little bit overwhelmed. Just in case, Qiao Junlin and the others would come here from time to time to have a look.

Sometimes Luo Yong would come over to take a look, mainly to care about the work and life of these people, and then ask someone to add a meal or something. These two people sing bad faces and good faces, and they cooperate very tacitly.

Since Luo Yong finished the spring plowing, he has nothing to do, the county government is full of staff, and with the help of the magistrate Tan, he is also happy to be free.

The old magistrate Tan likes to take care of the affairs of the city. He was really oppressed before, and he was too aggrieved, so he applied for early retirement.

Now those people have all run away, and the atmosphere in the county government office is also very clear. He likes to run here when he has nothing to do. To be honest, this person is old and really needs some emotional sustenance. He is not an idle person, and Luo Yong can trust him, so the two county magistrates, the new and the old, hit it off and got along very happily.

During this time, Luo Yong originally planned to go outside to have a look and plan the construction of water conservancy projects that will be put on the agenda in the near future, but was stopped by Qiao Junlin.

The reason was that Qiao Junlin couldn't leave by himself, and he couldn't go with him. He had to look at Changle County. Recently, more and more Hu merchants came and went to and from Changle County, and the security issue could not be ignored.

Qiao Junlin couldn't leave by himself, and he was worried that Luo would go by himself, so the old county magistrate and the new county magistrate also followed suit to persuade him.

Luo Yong thought for a while, then listened to them, and found a few relevant talents in the county government, formed a survey team, assigned them camels and Rome, allocated money for food, and asked them to go out to survey the terrain .

It's drudgery, but it's also an opportunity for meritorious service.

The many officials in the county government, many of them hoped that they could get the favor of the new county magistrate Luo, but if they didn't have the opportunity to perform well, how could Luo Yong notice and recognize their abilities?

In their area, the water source has always been a big problem. Every spring, the snow on the mountain melts, and the clear snow water flows down the ditches, nourishing all living beings under the mountain.

The clear snow-capped mountain water forms large and small riverbanks on this dry land. These riverbanks are usually very shallow, and the river water is clear and sweet. People gather and live along these riverbanks, forming oasis cities one after another.

These rivers also have a very bad thing, that is, they often change their course. Whenever the river changes course, many oases will disappear quietly, and then new oases will form in other places.

Although this is also a natural law, it is really not a good thing for people's lives. The desertion of an oasis often means that the previous efforts of the people here are all abolished and wiped out, and they have to find another oasis again. In a new place, everything starts from scratch, so the construction of this water conservancy project is very necessary.

This exploration team is just a vanguard. Luo Yong plans to arrange other people to go out in the future to make specific confirmation and planning. It is necessary to come up with a relatively complete and detailed plan before the actual construction.

But before that, the most important thing is to make money.

Water conservancy projects cost a lot of money. How such a small Changle County can afford so much money is also a big problem for Luo Yong.

Compared with Qiao Junlin and Apu, Luo Yong has been relatively free recently. His main task now is to establish a good relationship with those Hu people who travel to and from Changle County, to advertise more for their county, and to communicate with them as much as possible. These barbarians form friendships.

Staying with these Hu people all day long, Luo Yong also heard a lot about the customs and customs of the Western Regions from them.

I heard that on the commercial road from the Western Regions to Dunhuang, there are various oases, large and small. Merchants often only need to walk a day’s journey to encounter an oasis. Some of these oases are large, some are small, and some are stable. confusion.

Every barbarian's business journey is like an adventure story with ups and downs, which contains tension and excitement, but also long and hard work, interspersed with many anecdotes and strange events.

"...You mean the Sogdians?"

"When the children of the Sogdians were just born, they had to put honey in their mouths and glue on their hands, so they were very good at talking sweet words. When the money and silk were in their hands, it was as if they were stuck with glue. .”

"It's not unusual. I heard that people in Quzhi country use wooden boards to clamp the heads of young children, so their heads are narrow and long."

"Tsk, the people of Quzhi Kingdom are too ugly."

"The people of Quzhi are not ugly, but the people of Peihuo are ugly."

"Sanlang, what do you think?" Several people in the shop couldn't stop arguing, and then someone asked Luo Yong's opinion.

"It's not ugly, it's not ugly." Luo Yong didn't have anything to say about others being ugly, and he didn't do things that offended people for nothing, so he said: "What do you say, come, come, let me tell you something joke."

"Okay, okay! Saburo, tell me quickly!" When they heard that Luo Yong was about to tell a joke, these people were all very happy.

"Speaking of which, there are three old birthday stars in a certain place. One day, a rich man invited these three people to one place and asked them the secret of their longevity." Luo Yong started talking.

"..." Everyone in the store listened intently, even the shop owner stopped working, and stood beside him wiping his hands while listening with a rag in his hand.

"The first old birthday man said: 'Take a bite out of the meal.' Then the second old birthday man said: 'Walk a hundred steps after the meal.'" Luo Yong paused at this point, picked up the rough clay bowl and took a sip Zhuojiu, and then went on to say:

"The third old birthday star looked at the two people in front of him, and said with embarrassment: 'My wife is ugly.'"

After he finished his joke, the store was quiet for a few seconds, and then burst into laughter: "Hahahahaha!"

People these days have a low point of laughter, such a joke makes them unable to stop laughing, the men's full of laughter almost knocks the roof down, this makes the joker Luo feel that Very satisfied.

These barbarians talked to him about this and that all day long, and Luo Yong didn't have anything interesting to tell them. Later, after thinking about it, he decided to tell these men some dirty jokes. Unexpectedly, the response was unexpected. good.

Now Luo Yong's relationship with these barbarians is very good. These people love to find him for drinks when they have nothing to do, and they are willing to tell him anything, even some gossip that they are not easy to tell others. Needless to say, I have to say that a man's friendship is really a wonderful thing.

Isn't it just a few dirty jokes?

Luo Yong told these barbarians that after a while, their county will launch a very special drink, so that they must try it if they have the opportunity in the future. These barbarians heard about it, and they all agreed , Some people enthusiastically said that they would help him go out to do publicity. Luo Yong was very moved when he heard about it.

More than a month later, in the city of Chang'an.

A few bigwigs were drinking in a wine shop run by barbarians, and during the dinner they ordered orchids to dance, but today the orchid they liked was not feeling well and was not in the shop, so these people felt a little bored.

The owner of the restaurant saw that the guests were disappointed. This is not good. The business in Chang'an City is so difficult and the competition is so fierce. Just the restaurants opened by their barbarians. There are not many restaurants on this street. If you are interested, these people may not come to their house next time, this is a big customer.

So he said: "Sirs, Li Ji is not here today, which spoils your interest. Why don't you tell a joke with a few of you. Recently, some jokes have been passed down from the west. There are quite a few jokes. Interesting."

"Oh? Let's hear it." One of the bosses said.

"There are three old birthday stars in a certain place..." The Hu businessman started talking.

A few jokes were told, and the bosses also thought it was quite interesting, after all, they were all men, and it was such an age when spiritual entertainment was quite scarce.

"It's quite a bit of ingenuity, I don't know where it came from?" Dang even someone asked.

"Lishi Luosanlang." The shopkeeper opened his mouth and said.

Luo Yong: ...