North and South groceries

Ayan went to Chongxian Square alone, the streets of Chang'an City were unusually wide, and the manpower was especially small, walking alone on a street was like an ant.

From time to time, groups of teenagers and girls whizzed past on swallows, as brisk as birds, and some people drove horse-drawn carts and ox carts on the street, calmly, and there were some people like Ah Yan. Generally, those who walk on two legs are either carrying a load or empty-handed.

The scorching sun is basking on the earth, scorching these passers-by walking slowly...

"... Then you can come to work tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. If your family lives far away, there is a workshop here. You just need to bring your bedding and come over."

When the recruiting manager said this to her, Ayan quickly responded, but she was in a daze in her heart, and she couldn't figure it out anyway, how could she really be hired.

After returning home, talking about this matter with Ye Niang and his sister-in-law, everyone was happy for her, and she finally found a sense of reality, but she was still uneasy, feeling that she was not such a lucky person. Her good luck will not last long, maybe in two days, the machine shop will not want her again, so I don't dare to be too happy.

The next day, A Niang made a meal with her early, and her brother led the donkey cart to the courtyard, saying that he would send her to report to the machine workshop soon.

Thinking back to the time when she was not married, Brother Ye Niang treated her well, but after being divorced by her husband's family, such warmth is rare, but she doesn't know who to blame, so she simply doesn't go too far Thinking, just living a life of numbness day by day...

After breakfast, the elder brother lifted her burden into the cart, told her to sit in the cart too, and walked ahead leading the donkey himself.

The two of them went out of the gate of their own courtyard, out of the gate of the workshop, walked to the street, walked all the way to Chongxianfang, and walked to the location of the machine workshop.

Ah Yan and the others were not the first ones, many people came earlier than them, some came by themselves, some were sent by their family members, and the big courtyard was bustling with people, quite lively.

Ayan went to report to the steward, received her work number card, and found out where her dormitory was. Her brother helped her carry her luggage into the dormitory, and looked around. The environment was good, much better than theirs, and the place was also It is spacious, and there is also a cafeteria and bathroom. I heard that there are three meals a day, and hot water is constant.

"You can work here with peace of mind. Don't argue with others. If you have anything to do, ask someone to go back and tell me. I'll go back first." Ah Yan's elder brother urged.

"Hey, let's go." Ayan said, getting up to send her brother out.

In the blink of an eye, there were more and more people in the machine workshop, and Ah Yan soon discovered that among the people who came and went, most of them were women, and the number of men was probably less than [-]%.

And among these women, most of them also look rough, and it is rare to see such delicate and pretty ones.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Yan, what about you?"

"My name is Pearl."

"How old are you, Pearl?"

"Nineteen."

"Are you married?"

"I was engaged earlier, but my husband's family thought I was ugly, so they divorced again, so they helped with business at home."

"What kind of business does your family do?"

"It's selling vegetables."

"But are you okay?"

"Business is not good, and there are many brothers and sisters in the family. Sometimes I go out to pound rice with others to earn some money and grain to supplement the family."

"Ayan, which workshop do you live in?"

"My home is in Chang'anfang."

"It's so good, my home is in Hepingfang, and we will go back together when we have a ten-day rest."

"My home is far away, in Fengyifang."

"Huh? I'm also in Fengyifang"

"really?"

"Naturally, my home is in Fengyifang..."

"..."

There are a total of ten beds in this large dormitory. Originally, there were only two or three people, but gradually more people came, and there were six or seven. I heard that these beds may not be fully occupied now. In the future, their machine workshop will have to come from other places. Pick some good seedlings.

The women in the same room were talking and found that they all had similar backgrounds, and some of them were very miserable.

Thinking about it, after all, they come here to work, if they can't endure hardship, the machine shop probably won't want them.

At noon, a bell was suddenly heard, and many people did not know what the bell was for, and then in the outer passage, they heard someone shouting: "Come on, this is calling us to eat. "

"really?"

"I just came here, so I want to eat?"

"Not working yet."

"Go and see."

Ayan and the others left the house suspiciously, and quickly merged into the crowd, heading towards the direction where the bell sounded.

Before arriving at the place, I smelled the aroma of food, so these ladies became happy, and the pace of their feet quickened a little...

Luo Yong is also here today. His plan for this machine workshop is half workshop and half teaching. The teaching objectives are mainly for women, and only the very outstanding men are selected for training. Highly skilled craftsmen came to work and teach.

"...there are all the people there?"

"Done."

"Sort into classes in the afternoon, then gather everyone together and say a few words, let's start tomorrow."

"Here."

"Hengzhi is working in Engineering now. He can't make it through the day. If he is free at night, he will come here to have a look and give advice."

"..."

While he was talking, a few ox carts came out of the yard, they were delivered from North and South Grocery, and it seemed that the carts were loaded with grain.

This machine workshop has now recruited so many people, just three meals a day is not a small expense.Before the machine shop failed to make a profit, Yiying's food, cloth and other materials were mainly owed on credit from North and South Groceries, and they would be repaid after they made a profit.

The location of the machine workshop is also very good, it is located in Chongxianfang, east of Chang'an County Yamen, and the area is very large.

In order to buy this compound, the Luo family not only used some relationships, but also invested a lot of money and silk in it. Among them, the aunt, the second mother, and the fourth mother each sold some, and finally named the machine workshop Luo's Machine Workshop .

Aunt Si Niang is currently doing business here in Chang'an City, and she has a lot of funds to use. Er Niang has developed in Hexi over the years. Now that she is back in Chang'an City, compared with the other two sisters, her hand is very small. It's a little tight.

In order to get funds, Erniang asked people to move most of the inventory of the cashmere workshop in Liangzhou City to Chang'an City, and held a big off-season promotion for North and South groceries. The price of a cashmere sweater was as long as It used to be as much as fifty or sixty percent.

The discount is really gratifying, even though it is midsummer, it does not prevent the people of Chang'an from scrambling to buy it. Hundreds of carts of cashmere products are sold out in less than a month, and the purchasing power of the people in Chang'an is also very impressive.

On this day, the three of them, the aunt, the second wife, and the fourth wife, were all at the machine workshop, where Luo Yong was talking with the stewards, and on this side, the three of them sat together and did not interfere with the machine workshop. business, just talk about their respective business matters.

"You're willing to sell it." Speaking of the big sale a few days ago, such a low discount, the aunt felt pain for Er Niang.

That set of high-quality cashmere sweaters used to cost three or four hundred copper coins in Chang'an City, but they might not be able to buy them. All the Liangzhou warehouses have been moved here, and they are spread on the shelves on the second floor of the north and south groceries for people to choose from.

"What can I do if I'm not willing to part with it? Isn't it because I don't have money?" Erniang laughed and said, "If I sell it at [-]% off, I won't be able to sell it for a long time, and I can't make up the money, which is also a delay."

"I heard that Guo Duhu is building a road in Hexi, will it affect your business?" the aunt asked her.

"More or less, there must be some influence." After the entire wooden track on Longyou Road was paved, nothing else was mentioned, such light things as cashmere and white flowers that were blocked in Longxi and could not get out. , It will definitely be shipped out in large quantities.

This is definitely a good thing for Luo Erniang's cashmere workshop in Changle County, but not necessarily for the workshop in Liangzhou City. Will take some hits.She is now clearing the warehouse for the workshop in Liangzhou, and then she can use the goods shipped from Changle County to make up for it. Even if the price is lower, she doesn't feel very sorry.

Furthermore, although the cashmere products are good, what Erniang values ​​more now is the market for white folded cloth.

In the past few years in Hexi, Luo Erniang has dealt with Hu merchants a lot. She even went to places like Yiwu in Gaochang. The impression given to her by those outsiders is that they are not good at weaving.

When people from outside the customs trade with people from the Central Plains, they not only want the expensive silk, but also ordinary linen, but the distance is long and the freight is high. Those caravans mainly transport some expensive goods and do business with the upper classes of various countries. Get huge profits from them.

But in Luo Erniang's view, the ordinary fabrics produced in the Central Plains should have a good market in those foreign countries, but the transportation is difficult, the freight is too high, and if the profit is not high enough, it seems very uneconomical.

I heard that there are some big cannibals traveling to and from the Central Plains, they don’t take the commercial route of the Western Regions, but take the sea route, drive a big ship from the big food country, and enter the port at the south of the Lingnan. There are many Kunlun people in Chang’an City, they are those big cannibals People are transported by that sea route.

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the climate was humid and the vegetation was luxuriant. There were many lakes and rivers in the Central Plains. The shipping in Chang'an area was also very developed. There is a saying that Chang'an is surrounded by eight rivers.

Shipping can save transportation costs to a great extent, and as a businessman, Er Niang naturally knows this very well.

Engineering is currently studying how to use thermal energy to spin and weave cloth. Erniang has always had great confidence in Luo Yong, and she firmly believes in what he said.

If the heat energy can really be used in weaving, they will then load the cloth on a big ship and transport it to Fanbang... This business is too big, and Erniang can't even imagine how much money they can make.

Outside the house, everyone who had eaten lunch had been assembled, someone was in charge of assigning them to classes, and the head of the teacher class began to give lectures.

Inside the house, Er Niang suddenly said to Da Niang at this moment:

"Sister, every time I hear people talk about the new textile technology these days, they always mention the words 'clothes and quilts all over the world', but many people have forgotten that this 'world' refers not only to the Central Plains, but also to Not only Datang..."

After hearing these words, Si Niang at the side suddenly turned her head to look at Er Niang, her young face was full of surprise.

She has been doing business in Chang'an City for these years, and she thinks she is in charge of it alone, and she is quite knowledgeable. Only after hearing Er Niang's words did she realize that her vision is still too narrow.