North and South groceries

In Chang'an City, Wu Gao and others are following the caravan to Longxi, while in Changle County, Luo Yong and the others are also making plans for the opening of a new store of North-South Grocery.

The city of Changle County is too small. Even though Luo Yong had already expanded it once when he was renovating the city wall a few years ago, as the number of merchants gathered in the city increased, there were more workshops, large and small. The small town seemed a little cramped and narrow again.

Especially after the winter of this year, all kinds of merchants who come from all over the world to buy needles, white flowers, and sweet potato seeds, plus many herdsmen who drive their flocks to Changle County to sell live sheep , These passing pedestrians and livestock often make the streets in this small city, which are not originally spacious, appear congested.

After some consideration, Luo Yong and the others decided to choose the address of this new store outside the city, on a piece of wasteland not far from the wooden rail station.

When the work on the canal is finished, Luo Yong plans to enclose this area, that is, to expand a new urban area in the north of the city next to the original old urban area. The area of ​​this new urban area will definitely not be small by then, at least It should also be comparable to the area of ​​the old city.

At that time, the old district in the south of the city will mainly be used for administration and residence, while the new district in the north of the city will mainly be used for the development of warehousing and bulk goods trade.

Workshops such as canning workshops and bacon workshops that require a large area will also be relocated to the north of the city at that time.

"Grilled lamb haggis, six skewers for a penny, you can choose!"

That evening, Luo Yong was planning to go to the street to see how the biogas lamp was being used. As soon as he left the gate of the county government office, he could smell the aroma of roasted haggis.

Since they opened a few hawkers selling roasted haggis in the county two years ago, now the roasted haggis business in Changle County is basically monopolized by Jinchang people.

The sheep that don’t need money in the canning workshop go into the water. They arrange people to go there to snatch them every day. They also rent a yard in the city and pick up their own women to wash the haggis in the yard. Most of these stalls on the street are young and strong men.

These Jinchang people are in a group, and the ordinary scattered hawkers are not their opponents at all. Among other things, they can't compete with them in the link of launching a strong sheep into the water.

Last year, a few Jinchang people had a wild game. They obviously didn’t need the many sheep in the water, but they insisted on occupying them. If they couldn’t use them up, they dug a hole outside the city and buried them. In this way, other stalls disappeared. With the source of raw materials, their own business will naturally be easier.

Later, several stall owners who were victimized sued Guo Fenglai, the county magistrate. Guo Fenglai ordered people to find out the situation, and found out those Jinchang vendors who participated in the incident one by one, and immediately expelled them from the city, ordering them That whole winter, Changle County was not allowed to do business.

Many of them came back this year, Guo Fenglai heard about it, and went over to beat them, saying that if they committed the crime again, they would not be able to enter the gate of Changle County in the future.

Luo Yong also knew about this matter, and he didn't have any prejudice against these Jinchang people, no matter where they were, once there were too many of them, there would inevitably be some bad people.

Let’s just say that the locals in Changle County have bullied foreign tenants in the past. At that time, Huang Xiancheng was in charge of handling this matter. There was a notice on the door banning rent for three months, and after that, bullying was rarely heard.

Luo Yong walked all the way to the street, and he could see a stall selling roast haggis every now and then, but there were not many of them here, and more stalls were concentrated under the walls on both sides of the city gate.

Those street vendors set up thatched sheds under the wall, and turned on biogas lamps. They sell everything for food, and the prices are mostly relatively low. It looks like a night market. Every night, the workshops in the city stop working. Many people will go shopping in the night market.

Nights with biogas lamps are much more lively than in the past, but the temperature is low in winter and the production of biogas is slow. I heard that many merchants have reported to the officials these days that the biogas lamps are much darker than before. When it is lit, it will go out.

After the winter, the officials in charge of the biogas digesters in the county have already covered the ponds with straw mats to keep them warm, and they often have to fill them with sheep manure and horse manure. , as time gradually enters deep winter, the temperature is getting lower and lower, and it is not very good now.

Luo Yong took a look on the street on this day, and found that the lights were indeed much dimmer than before. As he walked, he would come across one or two extinguished lanterns. Obviously, the owner had not had time to relight them.

"Look, county magistrate, do you want to open those new ponds?" asked an official following Luo Yong.

"Let's open it..." Luo Yong thought for a while, and added: "Open it today."

"Here." The official agreed, and withdrew, hurried back to the county office, called a few people, and went to the biogas pit together.

At that time in Qiuli, several large biogas digesters were built in their county, mainly in case the temperature was low in winter, and there would be no biogas available in the city at that time.

Those biogas pools are now full of biogas. If they are opened one by one, they should be able to last for a while, but this is just the beginning of winter. Judging from the current situation, I am afraid that it will not last until next year. Spring begins.

Luo Yong was still walking on the street at this time, followed by two guards.When Qiao Junlin was in the past, Qiao Junlin was always responsible for Luo Yong's security issues. Sometimes Qiao Junlin had something to do, so he transferred people from the guard team.

In the fall of this year, Qiao Junlin went to the Western Regions with the students from Changle Academy. This matter fell on the shoulders of the county captain Guo Fenglai. He arranged a duty list for the guards. Every day, two people followed Luo Yong, regardless Day and night, these two people would follow wherever the magistrate was. When the magistrate fell asleep, they would also rest in the county government office.

At this time, Luo Yong crossed the street and climbed up the tower, followed by two guards.

Just as Luo Yong and the others went up the tower, they heard an uproar in the street behind them. Looking back, they saw that the biogas lamps in a block had gone out. Run out of the house to see what happened.

Not long after, someone shouted: "Here we come, the methane is coming again."

So people climbed up the ladder again to light the lamps. When the biogas lamp was lit, the flames seemed to be bigger than before. After a moment, the block was lit up again. This time the lights were much brighter than before.

Luo Yong and the others stood on the city wall, watching the biogas lamps in the city turn off and on again. Outside the city wall behind them, there was a large piece of wilderness. Sporadic fire.

That is where the herdsmen gather, because the daily purchase capacity of the canning workshop and the bacon workshop is limited, and it is impossible to buy all the sheep sent by the herdsmen that day. So he drove the sheep to the outside of the city, chose an open space, pitched a tent with felt, and lived there temporarily.

There are no living facilities outside the city, and even the water source is a problem. These herdsmen live like this, and naturally they cannot be called comfortable. If they have nothing to do during the day, they like to visit the city.

Especially those children from herdsmen's families, jumping up and down in groups in the city, sometimes they will conflict with the children in the city, and sometimes it seems that they have a good time playing with each other.

They dare not fight in groups unless they want to spend two days in the prison of the county government. Although so far, they have not heard of any child being arrested, they dare not. But I don't like to see people who like to fight.

The vast majority of herdsmen’s children are willing to stay and work in the workshops in the county. This city is so lively, with everything to eat and use, and there are so many playmates of their peers. Compared with the desolate and lonely grassland Gobi , I don’t know how many times better.

It's a pity that not every child can get what they want. Some of them are too young to find a willing workshop, and some of them are not approved by their families.

Girls are better off. If girls who are twelve or thirteen years old and not yet married are sent to Luo Erniang's cashmere workshop, they can eat well and dress well, and they can get tens of pennies a month. Working in a workshop for a few years is more beneficial than marrying them off.

In addition to these practical factors, many parents are indeed thinking about their daughter, hoping that she will live better in the city, and there is a female teacher who teaches people to read in the cashmere workshop, which is really difficult in this day and age that's it.

It is relatively difficult for boys. No matter in a tribe or in a family, boys are valued more than girls. If all the boys are left in the city, then the tribe or family will lose their young children. strength.

However, it is difficult to stop people's desires with barriers.I heard that some enlightened herdsmen families have recently begun to think about moving the whole family to live together in the city, especially when they see that the first batch of herdsmen who moved to the city are now living a quite stable and prosperous life.

"Aww!!!" Amidst the sound of the wind, one or two wolves howled faintly.

There are still many ferocious beasts in this era, and tigers, wolves and leopards are not uncommon. There are no large packs of wolves in their area, and they can only hear howling wolves occasionally. When walking in the wild, they can also see footprints and feces left by wolves from time to time. I don't know where to hide during the day, and most of them come out at night to look for food.

I hope that the children of the nomads don't go out and run around at night... Luo Yong is also a little worried.

When they build a new urban area next year, the canning workshop and the bacon workshop will be relocated there. At that time, the acquisition and storage capacity of these two workshops will be upgraded. A place where tents are temporarily set up, and the corresponding water and gas facilities will keep up.

"Is the county magistrate worried that there are thieves hiding outside the city?" Seeing that Luo Yong had been staring at the place where the nomads gathered, a guard asked.

"Does Lieutenant Guo have any arrangements?" Luo Yong did not deny it, but followed his words and asked.

These herdsmen gather together outside the county seat. Firstly, their own safety is a problem, and secondly, they are really afraid that thieves will get in among them. This area of ​​Changle County is a sweet pastry in the eyes of many thieves from other places.

"The county captain has arranged for scouts to go over these two days, pretending to be a peddler, to sell wine tails at their side. It didn't take much effort to get in among the herdsmen and get a feel for the situation on their side. It's clear." One of the guards said to Luo Yong.

When he said this, Luo Yong also remembered that Guo Fenglai had mentioned this matter to him a few days ago, but he was busy collecting supplies for Du Gou and the others who were outside repairing the canal, so he didn't take it seriously for a while. Go, after all, Guo Fenglai has always been very competent, so Luo Yong doesn't need to worry about anything, he just needs to report many things to Luo Yong, and Luo Yong knows what to do.

"There are only so many servants in the city. Who will he arrange for this time?" In a small place in Changle County, most of the locals know each other. When the time comes, people come and go, so it's best not to be exposed in person.

"There are two herdsmen in the workshop area. They came to the city a few years ago, and now the whole family is in the city. The two of them want to be servants. Guo Xianwei found them this time, and said: As long as the two of them obey the county's arrangement, they will act as wine peddlers outside the county town for a few months this winter, and promise to pass the news from outside the city back to him in time, and they will be formally appointed as servants in the spring of next year. "The people who can be assigned to Luo Yong's side are also core and reliable figures in the guard team, so they are relatively well-informed.

"That's not bad." Luo Yong said with a smile.

"It's more than good." Another guard also said, "These two people are not only earning the money they sell wine, but the yamen also pays them another salary, which makes them very happy."

Luo Yong also felt a little funny when he heard it, how about the feng shui turn, in the past it was the two herdsmen who sharpened their heads and wanted to join the team of guards, envious of the good treatment of these guards.

Now, the two of them got a good job by relying on their strengths. Although they were scouts, there was no danger just outside Changle County, and the income was really good. These old guards became envious.