North and South groceries

In the seventh month of the lunar calendar, news came from Gaochang State that the Tang army and the Gaochang army worked together to beat the Turks away.

Li Daozong and Gaochang Prince Qu Zhisheng led an army to pursue them all the way, with the purpose of driving them to a farther place.

Then there were rumors that Qu Wentai, the king of Gaochang Kingdom, was seriously ill, which was witnessed by Li Daozong.

Earlier, when the sage Xuanna Qu Wentai went to Beijing to see him, Qu Wentai claimed that he was sick and could not go to Chang'an City. His illness was real, not an excuse.

Qu Wentai was indeed ill, and it was quite serious. In the original history, Hou Junji led an army to Gaochang Kingdom, and Qu Wentai died when the soldiers approached the city.

In the history books compiled by some Tang Dynasty historians, it is unreasonable to say that he died of fright. After all, when Li Shimin issued an edict announcing him to enter Beijing, he was already said to be seriously ill.

Now, because Luo uses this variable, history has changed slightly.

Although the Gaochang Kingdom was still designated as Xizhou Tingzhou by the Tang government, the original battle of Tang's annihilation of Gaochang in history has become a battle between Tang and Gaochang against the Turks, and the leader of the army is no longer Hou Junji. , became Li Daozong.

Qu Wentai survived this time, perhaps because Qu Zhisheng had gone to Chang'an City earlier, Gaochang Kingdom had no one in charge, and he couldn't die for a while.

Perhaps it was also because of the new national treasure. Many people in Gaochang had heard that the king of Gaochang had obtained the new national treasure. The king respected it like a god and enshrined it every day, but few people knew what this treasure was.

In short, Qu Wentai, the king of Gaochang, passed through a death calamity without knowing it.

When Luo Yong heard the news, he was also very happy for him. He wondered whether Qu Wentai would still be alive on the day when Tang Xuanzang came back from learning Buddhist scriptures. In fact, it will not be long. I will be able to return to the Tang Dynasty around 17 years ago, and I will definitely pass through the Hexi Corridor at that time. I just don’t know if Luo Yong will still be an official here by then.

Hearing the great victory of the Tang Army, the atmosphere in Changle County suddenly became much more relaxed.

Most of the people in the city seemed very happy, and the price of food also showed a downward trend. The number of vendors in the surrounding areas to buy goods in Changle County gradually increased. Coupled with the drive of needle workshops, Changle County in July can be said to be It was quite lively.

It's just that the Hu merchants in the Western Regions rarely entered the Tang Dynasty this year.

Changle County has not been affected much because of the needle workshop that just opened this year. It is different in Dunhuang. Many local merchants are doing business with Hu merchants in the past. There is no way to make a living, just like when a farmer encounters a disaster year, the grain in the field fails to harvest, and the whole family does not know what to rely on to survive.

Recently, many traders from Dunhuang have come to Lishi County to buy needles. These needles are always easy to sell. As long as they can be bought, no matter where they are taken, they can always make a fortune after changing hands.

However, the needles in Changle County are not easy to buy. There are only about [-] needles out every day. Ordinary hawkers can only buy a hundred needles at a time. If you want to buy more, you have to find a manager in the needle workshop. It is possible to buy it after discussion, but it will take a little longer.

Although food and accommodation in Changle County are not expensive, there are still many hawkers who are not willing to spend the money, so many people rent the houses of the common people in the city, take the bedding from home, and light the fire here to cook. meal.

There were also some vendors who rented a small courtyard together, some brought their families with them, and some even built adobe houses by themselves, as if they wanted to live in Changle County for a long time.

The county magistrate from Dunhuang made a special trip to Changle County for this matter, saying that he came to visit relatives and friends, and called Luo Yong out to have a drink by the way.

At the wine table, the meaning behind the words is that Luo Yong must not register these people in the household registration of Changle County, and must not rob people from him, otherwise even if Luo Yong has Tang Jian as a big backer, he will not Fuck, the rabbit bites when it's in a hurry, and so on.

Luo Yong repeatedly assured him that as long as he had entered the household registration of these surrounding towns, Changle County would definitely not rob people from them. Write.

"It's too difficult to write your words backwards."

After Dunhuang county magistrate returned, he was still uneasy after much deliberation, but he had no choice but to let the officials under him keep an eye on him, and at the same time contacted some officials in Shazhou and Guazhou, and communicated privately. Letters, everyone's attitude is very consistent, if the coffin board really robs their registered accounts, they will immediately sign a letter.

Guazhou Inspector Chen Jiao, as Luo Yong's superior, did not stand on the same front with them. He told these people that although Luo Sanlang was young, he acted according to the law, and he would never act like that, so they needn't worry. .

After all, he is still the governor, and the achievements of the governor are not as good as those of the county magistrates. They are tied to the household registration and taxation.

Luo Yong really didn't intend to do that, he didn't want to be crazy, how could he do something that would arouse public outrage.

But for the arrival of these peddlers from surrounding towns, he is still happy to see the results. Although these peddlers are registered households in Dunhuang and other places, they cannot enter Changle County household registration and do not pay taxes in Changle County, but in Luo Yong's opinion , these people do not just represent households and taxes, they are labor and consumers.

Earlier, their needle workshop in Changle County could only make [-] needles a day, but now it can make [-] needles a day, not because of anything else, but because of sufficient labor.

In the process of making needles, there is a job of sharpening the tip of a needle, which can be done by ordinary people without any skills. The fine needles that have not been quenched are not very hard. They can be polished with a file and a stone, and they can be sharpened in a short time. out the needle tip.

The needle workshop sent out this work, and the local people went to them to get files, stones and fine needles back, and grinded the needles at home every day, and took them to the needle workshop to hand over the work, and paid as much as the needles were ground. .

Those hawkers who have no other source of income in Changle County, every time the needle workshops come out, they rush to get them one by one.

Luo Yong was walking on the street recently, and he saw many people in the streets and alleys sitting there grinding needles with beard stools.

Grinding needles is not a good job. I don’t feel like grinding one or two needles. It’s very hard to sit there and grind for a long time. After a long time, no matter male or female, everyone The skin on the handle is rough and thick, black and shiny.

However, in this era, in a place like their Guazhou, it is always good to be able to add a source of income to the local people.

Recently, if Luo Yong is free, he would move a pony out to grind needles with others. In fact, he can't grind a few. The main reason is to get closer to the masses and get various news by the way. I really like Magistrate Luo, and I am willing to tell him everything.

But what they talk about most recently is that Luo Yong got the seeds from the Hu people last year, and they planted them in the beginning of spring this year. Some of them are vegetables, which grow in summer, and some are good, so they kept the seeds , there are also unpalatable ones, strange tastes, and some that look like weeds and vines.

Among them, there is no expected cotton, and there are no species of special economic value that are common in later generations.

In addition to these seeds, Luo Yong has also heard a lot of gossip recently. One of the things that everyone likes to talk about recently is the marriage between Lu San and Axiu.

Na Lu San was originally from a poor family, but he himself became a public servant after Luo Yong became the county magistrate of Changle County. Xiaopo County can be regarded as a leader.

Axiu's family background was originally better than that of Lu San's. Her mother-in-law was able to endure hardships, and the couple were two strong laborers who worked hard with others all the year round. With two young brothers, the family's life is quite decent.

It was rumored that the Lu family proposed marriage to Axiuyeniang last year, but Axiuyeniang did not agree because the two of them were selling wine tails together at that time, earning more than Lu San every month.

He also said that both Nalu Sanye's mother and mother are old, and there are two younger siblings under her. After Axiu is married, she will serve the elderly and drag the younger siblings.Their family, Axiu, was sensible and hardworking since she was a child, her neighbors knew about her, and her looks were not bad, so Yeniang naturally wanted to find a good family for her, so why would she send her to endure hardship?

There is some truth in what he said. Marriage has been the order of parents since ancient times. Axiu and Lu San have nothing to say. One has been a good girl since she was a child, and the other has a If the errands in the public house become troublesome, if they are not done well, one will lose his reputation, and the other will lose his errand.

If things were just like this, then no one would be able to say anything wrong with Ah Xiuyeniang, it's just that the situation is a little different since the war broke out this year.

Since the war broke out, the government-run winery in Changle County has seldom made wine, so the tail of the wine is also very rare. Now, Axiu's family has almost cut off their income. Although she, Ye Niang, can still Doing coolies with others, but the income from doing coolies is really meager compared with the income from selling wine tails.

Later, Axiu Yeniang found someone to find out about the tone of the Lu family. Although Lu Jiayeniang didn't like the fact that the two had rejected them earlier, she really liked Axiu's character. I have known him since I was a child, after thinking about it, I still agreed.

At first, I thought that things should be settled at this point, but I didn't expect to hear about Tang Jun's great victory recently, and someone else liked Axiu and wanted to marry her. Axiu was asked to tell Na Lu San that his family should withdraw their marriage, but Axiu refused, so she was beaten by her mother, and the neighbors heard about it, and within two days, the news spread all over the city.

Everyone said that the Nanan couple, that is, Axiu's Yeniang, were not kind people, and that Nan Dalang's younger brother was not a decent person. He left his wife and children alone and went to Dunhuang to be raised by a rich woman.

Just like their Nan family, being in-laws with the Lu family is not a disadvantage to them. You must know that although the Lu family is dilapidated, the family style is still good, and Lu Sanlang can read and write, and now he is working in the government. Maybe you can have a good future.

This kind of family is unwilling to ask Axiu to go, and wants to renege on the marriage and ruin her reputation. This kind of behavior does not seem to be for the sake of their children, it is clearly deceived by lard.

Everyone just talked about this matter with Luo Yong as gossip, and Luo Yong is a county magistrate who really has no pretensions. Everyone watches him drink and tell jokes with Hu merchants all day long, buy vegetables on the street, and sometimes even gossip with him. People bargain, and recently I often see him move a pony out to grind needles with others. Sometimes it is really easy to forget that this person is a county magistrate.

Unexpectedly, on this day, they were talking here, and Ayenan Dalang of Axiu came out to fetch water with a shoulder pole and bucket over there. When Luo Yong saw him, he beckoned him to come over.

"Is the county magistrate busy?" Nan Dalang hadn't dealt with Luo Yong very much, and he was still a bit cautious in front of him.

"I heard that Lu Sanlang is going to marry your family's Axiu. This is the first marriage in our mansion. I also want to prepare a generous gift with him. How come I heard that this marriage will not be possible?" Luo Yong Said to him with a smile.

"But there is no such thing." When Nan Dalang heard it, he immediately said, "I don't know where the magistrate heard about it?"

"It's fine if you don't have one." Luo Yong smiled, waved his hand and said: "Lv Sanlang is a good son-in-law, I will guarantee this matchmaker, and now that the Tang army has won a great victory, everyone is very happy. It’s a good time.”

When Nan Dalang first heard that Luo Yong asked him about Axiu's marriage, he was worried that he would ask him about his plan to regret the marriage. Seeing him now, instead of being angry, he said that Lu San was a good son-in-law, and that his family's marriage was too late. Good time.

Nan Dalang was very happy when he heard about it. After thanking Luo Yong, he went home happily with a load of water.

After he left, there was the outspoken one who said to Luo Yong, "Why does the county magistrate want to be respectable to such a person?"

"What's the matter, the young people's marriage is more important." Luo Yong said with a smile, blowing the iron dust on the file.

From Luo Yong's standpoint, he naturally didn't like what the Nan couple did, but thinking about the current situation of Lu San and Axiu, it didn't matter whether he liked it or not.