North and South groceries

In April of this year, Luo used the western end of the Hexi Corridor where they were located. This small yellow mud city named Changle County was shrouded in the shadow of war at this time.

Thousands of miles away in Chang'an City, Aunt Luo and the others had already left Chang'an City at this time. They first walked eastward along the Yellow River, turning land and water along the way. Their boats entered the canal in Chuzhou and went all the way southward. After passing through Yangzhou, Runzhou, and Changzhou, we went all the way to Wu County, Suzhou, and then stopped.

Suzhou at this time was the northernmost prefecture of Jiangnan Road, with six counties under its jurisdiction.

Its geographical scope includes places such as Suzhou, Changshu, Shanghai, and Jiaxing in later generations. It is close to the sea and the lake. The Grand Canal, which runs through the north and the south, has brought infinite opportunities to the development of Suzhou.

In the early years of Wude, household registration was sorted out. At that time, Suzhou had a total of [-] registered households. Now it should be more than that, but compared with the prosperity of later generations, it must still be far behind.

The reason Aunt Luo chose to come to Suzhou this time instead of Luoyang, Jinling, or Yangzhou was because she had heard people say that this place can produce tangerines.

Aunt Luo runs a food shop. They grow so much Eucommia gum in Lishi's hometown, and she has the skill of making cans, so naturally she doesn't want to spend a lot of money to buy cans from others.

Fruits like peaches, apricots, pears, and plums are available in Chang'an City. They only need to buy more fruits during the season when they are in abundance and make them into cans. After these fruits are out of season, they can sell them at a higher price.

But such things as oranges and pineapples are not produced in the Central Plains. Some managers of their food shop said, if you don’t have them, you don’t have any. It’s okay to eat without these two things, but Aunt Luo refuses to give up easily. A large part of the reason for coming to Wu County, Suzhou is because of tangerines.

This place in Wuxian County is very different from the Northland. The people here do not live in yellow mud houses, but build houses with wooden boards. The wooden boarded houses are close to each other, and the neighbors are also very close.

There are many rivers and canals in the city, and there is a small river when you go out, and you have to cross the bridge after a few steps. Women and girls squat in groups by the water, washing vegetables, washing clothes, and talking in Wu Nong's soft language. There is an indescribable chic and style.

When Mrs. Luo and the others first arrived in Wu County, they were fascinated by the delicate and beautiful scene in front of them. After staying for two or three days, they gradually became uncomfortable.

First of all, there is only a layer of wooden boards between the houses in the south. If an oil lamp is lit next door, the light can shine on their side through the gap between the boards, and even the people next door hiccup at night. The sound was heard very clearly.

Also, the food is not suitable for me. Wu County is close to Taihu Lake, and there are many waterways in the city. The local people like river fresh food, and the food is often fresh, and they are not very afraid of fishy food. Aunt Luo and the others prefer salty and fragrant food. Eat here After a few days, they felt bland and tasteless in their mouth, and they were more afraid of fishy food. They couldn't eat many local dishes at all.

The young man named Chen Ji who came from Hexi had lived in Wu County for less than ten days, and he was about to shrink back. Seeing that Mrs. Luo was amused, she also felt a little bit worried.

The tastes of the north and the south are so different, it is not easy for them to run a sister's restaurant in Wu County.After much deliberation, Aunt Luo decided to start with sweets, because most of them, whether they are from the south or the north, still like sweets very much.

Recently, they looked at a few shops on the street. At this moment, the housing price in Wu County is much lower than that in Chang'an City. After some observation and comparison, Aunt Luo finally decided to buy one with a better location. wine shop.

This restaurant occupies quite a large area, the front hall is also large, and it has two floors.Here in Wu County, many houses in the city have two floors, mainly because the local climate is humid, and the humidity on the first floor is too high.

This restaurant is big, but a little run-down. There is a yard behind the restaurant. There is also a row of two-story wooden houses behind the yard. The old ones are a bit old. Whether they are for living or as warehouses, they are still useful. .

Going out from the backyard is a small bluestone path, and next to the bluestone path is a small clear river. Standing at the window on the second floor, you can see the small bridges on the small river, most of which are relatively simple.

They are considered to be in a pretty good location in the city. If it is a cheaper place, if the ground is not paved with stone slabs, it will look very muddy, especially the local climate is very humid and rainy.

Probably because of this, most of the local people prefer to wear clogs. It is not yet May, and many people have already walked all over the street wearing clogs.

After Aunt Luo set up this shop, she led a few people under her hand to prepare for the opening of the shop, and at the same time, she made a batch of date bean cakes every day and sold them first.

Before the signboard of this sister's food shop was put up, the scent of date bean cakes had already spread to the streets and alleys of Wu County. Every day when this batch of date bean cakes was made, there were some Wu County children who were walking on clogs and holding their trousers. Stretching their necks around the outside of the shop, not every household would be willing to eat the jujube bean cake that costs a penny.

At the beginning, only the neighbors came to buy one or two to eat back, and within a few days, the reputation spread, and many wealthy households in the city sent their family members to buy, and they could buy five or six at a time. More than ten.

If they brought their own food boxes to buy them, Mrs. Luo would pick out those date bean cakes that were not in good shape, and cut off a small piece as a topping, which was equivalent to a piece of oil paper. there is none left.

This small piece of date bean cake probably fell into the mouths of these servants who ran errands, so whenever the master sent them out to buy date bean cake, these girls and boys were very happy.

Aunt Luo sells these jujube bean cakes every day, but she doesn't actually make much money. The main reason is that the red dates are not produced locally, and the red dates here are much more expensive than those in Hedong Road, Chang'an City.

I heard that it is good now. Decades ago, the red dates here were more expensive. Later, the Grand Canal was opened, and the red dates in the north can go down the canal. The waterway does not need to consume a lot of manpower and animal power, but the river Not everyone can use it if they want to, except for official ships, ordinary merchants will inevitably be exploited layer upon layer if they want to sail on this river.

Apart from red dates, flour here is also more expensive than in the north, brown sugar is cheaper, and the price of eggs is also cheaper than in Chang'an City.

In addition to copper coins, Aunt Luo's shop is also willing to accept silk thread, grain, and eggs. Usually, three eggs can be exchanged for a piece of jujube bean cake. The grain silk thread depends on the quality.

What they have harvested the most recently is rice, besides eggs. In the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, there is less corn and wheat in this place, but more rice.

Aunt Luo spoke half-babbling Wu dialect all day long with the local people who came to exchange dates and bean cakes, and often said something wrong, leading to some jokes. Before they came to Suzhou, they lived in Suzhou. Chang'an City has asked someone to teach Wu dialect for a few days, but it still doesn't sound like it. Fortunately, there are many scholars in Wu county who can speak official dialect, but their official dialect is not very similar. want to laugh.

Most of the merchants from Chang'an who came with Aunt Luo and the others also set up shops on this Wuxian Street at this time, and they often walked between several shops. It was led by Aunt Luo.

The reason behind this is naturally because of Luo Yong.Although the other companies have their own connections, this Mrs. Luo is the elder sister of Luo Sanlang in Lishi.

What kind of person is Luo Sanlang from Lishi? Although he has been squeezed out of Chang'an City, but in the small town of Changle County over there, he can actually make such a big tea business.

Not to mention the future of this person, just now, merchants like them have come all the way to Suzhou City to open a shop, so they may not want to get involved in the tea business. In the hands of stone merchants, Lishi Luosanlang played a key role in this.

The neighbors on the street where Auntie’s restaurant is located heard these things, and most of them were a little bit skeptical. Seeing that Mrs. Luo was working all day with her sleeves rolled up, she didn’t look like those legendary figures.

Some well-informed big households in the city knew it well, and many of them wondered why Aunt Luo came to Wu County, could it be that their local tea business could really develop greatly?

I want to invest in tea production, but I am worried about the war at the border. Once this year's battle breaks out, those Hu merchants in the Western Regions may not come here much, and I don't know what the situation will be in the next year...

"...Are you going to accept it or not?"

On this day, other people in the shop were busy in the backyard. Aunt Luo moved a stool and sat in front of the shop to pick beans. At this time, an old man came over and asked her if she would accept anything, but Aunt Luo didn’t listen for a while. clear.

"What are you talking about?" Aunt Luo put the basket of beans to dry under the wall, then clapped her hands and stood up.

"Tea! I ask you if you accept tea?" the old man said loudly.

"Hey, take it, you can take a look with me first." Aunt Luo heard it clearly this time, and said with a smile.

When the old man heard about it, he passed the basket in his hand to him. The tea was also good tea, all young leaves and buds he picked from the mountain behind his house, but it was not made like the tea that was recently shipped to the west. In the shape of a cake, the few shops in the city that heard that there was a recent harvest of tea were all unwilling to take it, but there was a medicine shop that said they would pay him two cents, but the old man refused, so he came to Aunt Luo with a basket .

Aunt Luo looked at the tea leaves in the basket. There were not many teas in the basket. They were placed in a medium-sized basket, and half of the basket was filled. The things were very good, and they were all dried out with young tea leaves.

"But do you want jujube cake?" Aunt Luo asked him.

"How much are you and me?" the old man asked.

"Today's jujube cake is almost sold out." Aunt Luo opened the steamer to show him, "There are only a few pieces left, if you are willing to exchange them, I will give them all to you."

When the old man came out of Aunt Luo's shop, he held a bag of jujube cakes in his arms, six big ones and one small one.

His home is in the outskirts of Wu County, and there are a few tea trees growing in the back of the mountain. Every spring, when the tea leaves grow, he picks some when he has time, and he can’t sell them for much money. With two literacy and three literacy, he heard that the price of tea is more expensive this year, so he wanted to sell more, but he didn't expect that he would get this big bag of jujube cake in exchange.

The old man was walking on the road, happy in his heart, and couldn't help but speed up his steps a little bit.

His daughter-in-law has been in the house for three or four years, she was just pregnant last year, and her belly has become bigger and bigger recently, she is also hungry all day long, taking these pieces of jujube cakes back will be able to fill her up.

In the spring of next year, his grandson will probably be able to beg for food with him, and then he will go up the mountain to pick some tea and exchange cakes with his grandson.