North and South groceries

After the time entered May, the city of Chang'an became hotter every day.

The county lord's mansion where Luo Yong and the others live is okay, the foundation is relatively high. At this time, when rich people build houses, they like to put a high earthen platform under the house, so even if there is only one floor, when entering the house, you must Walk a few steps, like the main hall in the palace, the foundation is especially high.

Chang'an City is sweltering in summer, and there are many snakes, insects, rats and ants. The higher foundation is more advantageous. Not only is it cool and ventilated, but there are not so many insects.

But that is the upper class. Ordinary people build houses, how can they build such a high platform, and it is not in compliance with the regulations.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter every day, and the number of mosquitoes and flies is also increasing day by day. As the head of a county, Luo Yong has been quite worried recently. Once there are more mosquitoes and flies, it is easy to infect some diseases, such as malaria. kind.

In fact, when Luo Yong and they popularized biogas digesters in Chang'an City this time, there was another incidental project, which was to fill seepage wells.

The so-called seepage well is that some people dig a dry well in the yard, and then pour some domestic sewage with nowhere to go into the well, so that it can seep into the ground.

In this way, the eyes are clean, but the pollution of groundwater is very serious.

In the early years, the reason why Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty wanted to build Daxing City, which is the new city of Chang’an City where the Tang people live today, was not only because the old city was crowded, but also because of the serious groundwater pollution, which was brought up from the well. The well water in my house is salty, so can I still eat it?

Luo used this time when they popularized biogas digesters, they filled up the seepage wells of those people by the way, and told them not to pour sewage into the seepage wells, but into the biogas digesters.

As for the biogas slurry produced in the biogas digester, because of its strong fertility, many people grow vegetables in their own yards, which can be used to fertilize the land.

As for those who don’t grow vegetables at home, or those who dislike the smell and don’t like to use it, they can give this biogas liquid to others.

People in the Central Plains who are good at farming have never had too much fertilizer. In the past, there were people who collected excrement and urine in the city. Now that the biogas digester is built, there is very little excrement and urine. After the biogas digester was removed, those methane liquid and methane slag came out.

It is very easy to get the biogas liquid. Each biogas tank is equipped with a hand pressure device, which can press out the biogas liquid without much effort.The biogas residue is more troublesome. The county government posted a notice early on, saying that it needs training, teaching people how to go to the biogas pit to dig out the biogas residue, and let those who want to learn sign up early in the morning.

Luo Yong and the others are building biogas digesters and filling seepage wells at the same time in Chang'an County. Not only do they want to do it here, but they also want Wannian County to do it together.

After all, a city of Chang'an is divided into two sides, Wannian County in the east and Chang'an County in the west, the drainage ditches are all connected together, only Chang'an County is done well, and Wannian County doesn't do it, it's useless.

Regarding this matter, Luo Yong talked about it several times in the court, but he still failed to achieve the desired result.

The county magistrate of Wannian County thought he was meddling in his own business. Whenever he met Luo Yong, his complexion would be very stinky, but Luo Yong didn't take it seriously.

This project is indeed very necessary. Although the current Chang'an New City is not as serious as the pollution of the old city in the past, there are already traces to follow.

On the one hand, there are more and more mosquitoes and flies every summer. On the other hand, there are several canals in Chang'an City. They are not the canals for drainage, but the canals that divert water from the river outside. These canals are also polluted to some extent .

On the side of Chang’an County, there are Cao Canal, Yong’an Canal, and Qingming Canal. The water in these canals is not suitable for drinking, let alone washing rice and vegetables. In some places where the water flow is relatively clear, it is barely suitable for drinking. It's okay for washing clothes.

Generally speaking, compared with later generations, this level of pollution is not particularly serious. However, with the continuous increase of the population of Chang'an City and the accumulation of pollutants, the pollution level will inevitably increase. Therefore, starting to treat it now, then Still very necessary.

It’s just that if you want to do these things, it will inevitably cost money. Those people in the household department control the entire treasury’s money in and out. Well, if it's really that loose, the treasury must have been empty long ago, so it's very picky, and generally they don't give money if they can.

But last time they said they had no money, but Luo Yong turned around and made such a thing out for them, which made everyone very uncomfortable. The so-called gaining wisdom through a fall, this time they didn't tell Luo Yong that they had no money. He didn't even say anything, just protested with silence.

It is said that after the last money donation incident, although Luo Yong successfully obtained funds to promote biogas digesters in Chang'an County, it also damaged his personal image to a certain extent, making some old antiques in the court very disgusted with him.

The person who was interested asked Luo Yong again during the banquet, and asked him what he thought of this matter.

As a result, Luo Yong said: "People who would dislike me because of such a trivial matter are not worth dating, and they have nothing to care about."

As a result, his words were quickly spread.

"Bah! Who wants to associate with him."

"It's really a little too proud."

"Treat yourself as a treasure!"

"Look, if I give him another good face, I will write my name upside down!"

"..."

Luo Yong: He said it as if he gave me a good face before.

In fact, Luo Yong really doesn't care much about the attitudes of these people. Apart from the progress of the promotion of biogas digesters, he is more concerned about the application of steam engines in the textile industry.

Although this matter has not yet been realized, he knows that it must be sooner or later.

Once this becomes a reality, it means that the price of cloth will drop a lot. Many families who don't have much cloth at home may be able to use a relatively small amount of coins or grain in exchange for enough for a family in the future. fabric.

In terms of the results, this is of course a good thing, but in the process of this change, it will inevitably cause harm to some groups, such as some old-fashioned cloth workshops, weavers, and many others other than spinning and weaving. A woman with no strengths.

What Luo Yong needs to consider now is how to minimize this damage.

·

In Chang'anfang, south of Chang'an County, there is a family surnamed Ye, and the family has a girl named Ayan. She is in her twenties and she was married before. left her natal family.

The yard of their home in Chang'anfang is quite big, but there are many people living there.

In this city of Chang'an, it is not like a rural area. After the old man above passed away, the brothers would separate their families. If the existing house was not enough, they would find another place and build a new one.

The courtyard of their family in Chang'an City was during the previous dynasty when Daxing City was newly built, and people from the entire old city moved here together. Ayan's grandfather's family, as the people of the old Chang'an City, were divided in this new city. Got a house.

Later, Ayan’s grandfather passed away, and her father, uncles and brothers still lived in this courtyard. Under these cousins, there are nephews and nieces.

Such a large family lives in the same yard, and it is inevitable that there will be some gossip on weekdays, and it is not a wealthy family, so life is tight, but it is just barely making ends meet, like Ayan who was divorced by her husband's family Those who returned to their natal family were in a particularly difficult situation.

She would also go out to find some work by herself. She had been to all the grocery stores in the north and south, but those places rarely recruited people.

She is currently working as a sweeper in a restaurant, trying to earn a living, but it is not easy, there is a lot of work, the wages are low, and she is very dependent on her face.

These days, I heard that Naluo Erniang is going to open a face towel workshop in the city, so she risked being fired, lied that she was not feeling well and went to the medical clinic, reluctantly asked the store owner for a half-day vacation, and planned to apply for the face towel workshop.

The Dunyifang where the face towel workshop is located is very close to Chang'anfang where her home is. Chang'anfang is close to the city wall to the west, and Dunyifang is a little bit in the middle. There is only a Tongguifang between the two.

At this time, the weather was quite hot and the sun was very hot. When we took her to the face towel workshop, I also sweated a little. However, when she got there, the door was closed and no one was there.

I asked an elderly woman on the street. The woman was about 50 to [-] years old. She was sitting under a tree to enjoy the shade, holding her grandson in her arms. She looked like a resident of the neighborhood.

"You mean this face towel workshop? This face towel workshop has not started yet, and there is no need for people right now. I heard that there is a lack of some equipment. Then the Luo family sisters and brothers need to build a machine workshop first. After all those things are complete, we can go here. Start work..." The woman was enthusiastic, seeing Ayan's inquiry, she told her everything she knew.

"Then when will it open?" Ah Yan worried that she would miss it again.

"Then I don't know." The woman shook her head and replied.

"..." Ayan was very disappointed, she turned her head to look at the closed door, hesitated, unwilling to just turn her head and leave like this.

The old woman on the opposite side was sitting on the stone slab in front of her house, coaxing her grandson while turning her head to look at the woman who had just questioned her.

He was wearing burlap clothes, the color had faded badly, he had worn them for many years, he was also extremely thin, his complexion was sallow, and his hair was also withered and yellow. He looked like a miserable person...

"I heard that their machine shop is located in Chongxian Square, which is the Chongxian Square next to the county government. Do you know that? The machine shop is recruiting people these two days. I heard that both men and women are welcome. Why don't you go and have a look?" After a while, the old woman spoke to her again.

"Both men and women are allowed?" Ah Yan felt a little strange. The machine workshop is a workshop for making equipment. That kind of place should require more craftsmen and strong laborers. What do women need?

"I don't know either, I just heard someone say it, so I don't know if it's true or not."

"Thank you grandma."

"If you want to go, go early at this time, don't miss the curfew."

"Hey."

Ayan went to Chongxianfang in a daze, not thinking much in her mind, she just wanted to go and have a look, but it probably won't work in the end.

She didn't know that Luo used these days to draw a big picture of "women can also be craftsmen" and "women can make a lot of money". This time when the machine workshop recruited people, he deliberately increased the proportion of women. , There is even a plan to train a group of female craftsmen.