Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 140 The Marketplace ([-])

"Everyone said that they conquered the state of Youzhou, surrendered tens of thousands of Tuoba clan, got hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, and took back the profit from Yanchi, but the commander-in-chief didn't ban alcohol. It's really unreasonable." Outside the city of Xiazhou In a certain restaurant, a large man sat on his feet and complained loudly.

No alcohol prohibition does not mean prohibiting the sale of alcohol, but prohibiting private brewing.Well, it’s very difficult to do this, and there is a strong trend of private brewing among the people, but there is indeed such a rule officially.

The earliest rules can be traced back to the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, when Marshal Mi Jimi served as the Jiedu Envoy of Xiazhou and the Envoy of the Northeast Road Recruiting Party. At that time, the government did not allow private wine brewing.At the same time, the shogunate also set up a special wine warehouse, and the public made wine and sold it uniformly. It was said that it was to avoid waste and food consumption among the people, but the main reason was mostly to raise military supplies.

Tens of thousands of troops conquered the party item, which cost a lot!
"Liu Sandou, you are full of complaints, if you go to join the army, you will be whipped within three days." Another drinker said with a smile: "You are right to go to the horse to seek errands, so as not to be beaten to death."

"Jin Chongwen, you don't even know a few words, so it's shameless to call you Chongwen." Liu Sandou continued to munch and eat, and said: "Liu is good at wine, what can you do? If the commander-in-chief bans alcohol, he will definitely let the price of wine go down." Just like the price of meat has come down.”

The price of a sheep in Xiazhou has fallen below 320 yuan, which is almost the same price as a lamb a few years ago, which is incredible.Pingxia's party items and the trophies obtained from the various tribes' plunder, in just one year, too many cattle, sheep, horses and camels flowed into Xiazhou.The sergeants receive rewards five times a year, four goats at a time, and twenty goats a year.I eat some at home, and sell the uneatable ones. At the same time, the shogunate is also selling them, and people from the grassland tribes come to sell them, and the price is suddenly dropped.

Not only has the price of sheep dropped, but the prices of beef, camel meat, donkey meat, and horse meat have all dropped.It’s just that for the Tang people, mutton is their main meat consumption product, just like pork for later generations of Chinese, they basically only care about the price of mutton.

The restaurant is located on the south bank of the Wuding River, next to the post road leading to Wuyan City, and there are still quite a few people coming and going.Recently, many party members came down from the mountains to sell medicinal materials and leather, and gradually formed a bazaar on the south bank of the river spontaneously.

The mutton made by the restaurant is very delicious, attracting many merchants to try it out. The boss and his wife are busy all day long, with smiles on their faces.Later, he recruited two young nephews from his hometown in Tongzhou, Guanzhong, to help, and the business grew bigger and bigger.

"Xiaozi, don't run around, go back and cut the meat." A half-sized man rushed out from behind the restaurant, holding a wooden knife in his hand, making a shouting gesture, having fun.

"What a majestic kid!" Liu Sandou said in surprise, putting down the wine bottle.

This child looks like a calf, he may only be twelve or thirteen years old, but he is as tall as an adult.In a few years, if you grow up a little bit, you can go to a Yamen army without any problem.

"Uncle Cong is working in the Tielin Army, and he has been with the commander since Suizhou. This kid likes to fight and kill, son, go back and cut the meat, he is too busy." The owner of the restaurant chased after him. Come out, grabbed the boy and said.

"Only the family members of the sergeant can have a full stomach." Jin Chongwen shook his head and sighed.

"It's a bit different now. There are so many cattle and sheep in Xiazhou, and many households have bought them back to raise them. There are quite a few who make goat milk, ghee, and physalis. Didn't the commander post a message, urging them to raise more?" Cattle and sheep, children who eat more milk of cows and goats can grow tall and strong." The owner of the restaurant said with a smile.

Compared with Suizhou and Yinzhou, Xiazhou can indeed be said to be vast in land and sparsely populated.Along the river bank, on the hillside, beside the woods, there are plenty of grasslands.If these lands are in the interior, most of them have already been developed into farmland, but there are not so many people in Xiazhou, so they can only be left there.

Not to mention, there is a large pasture occupied by the imperial court near the city of Zhou. Except for some of the trophies left, the rest are banned. If you want to herd sheep, you can go there to herd sheep.

"Where is the article from the commander-in-chief? I'm afraid it was written by Mrs. Feng?" Jin Chongwen said.

Everyone laughed when they heard the words.In Xiazhou, everyone knew that the commander-in-chief's handwriting was poor, and people often made fun of it in private, which was a bit of a joke for later generations.

However, everyone couldn't help admiring the wives married by the Marshal.They are well-educated and well-born, no wonder the commander-in-chief wants to take them home.

"Hmph, instead of persuading Nong Sang, persuading the shepherds, is this going to be a joke?" A few young people walked outside the restaurant, who seemed to be scholars, and for some reason, came up with sarcastic remarks.

Everyone who was eating and drinking fell silent.

"I was in Luzhou before, and after listening to the sages for 30 years, my livelihood is still getting more and more difficult. The children are skinny, and the people are poorly clothed. From time to time, they are conscripted into the battle and tossed between ravines. This sage's reasoning is useless! No matter how many mansions the commander has, how many wives and concubines, as long as the family has food and clothing, life can be peaceful." Liu Sandou took a sip of wine and said angrily: "Where you can grow mulberry, you can grow sheep. I’m a Han Chinese, and I also like to drink milk and wear furs. In the early years, I lived in Lingzhou to prevent autumn, what did you do?”

Several young people choked for a while.

"The king of Lingwu County used to hang people in Guanzhong to punish crimes. Now he is in Xiazhou, and the world is in peace. He has traveled all over the world, but he has not seen him for many years. Now few people read the books of sages." An older man smiled wryly and said: "What the King of Lingwu has done is actually in line with the teachings of the sages. In the past few days, a certain plan is to walk around Xiazhou more to see how the scenery is. Alas, I didn't expect that in the The four prefectures of Xia and Sui in the frontier are peaceful and peaceful, but the Kanto states are fighting endlessly, the people flee and change their sons to eat, there are no people living in thousands of miles, ten rooms are empty, it is pitiful!"

"These words are quite pleasant." Liu Sandou put away his anger a little, and said: "In the past six months, I have seen many scholars like you from Guanzhong, Hedong, and Henan. The black ones have no skills. They kill and kill all day long, but they can't make a name for themselves. In Mingzhou at the beginning of the year, Shatuo soldiers came in to loot, but no one could stop them. Ze and Luzhou were also expropriated by Li Ke. It’s a good fertile land, with no crops in the wild. I’m working in a horse shop. I’m afraid I’ve taken more than [-] households to Yinzhou this year in Guangmingzhou. Xingzhou and Heyang are no less. Commander-in-Chief To provide food and clothing along the way, and to enter Xiasui through Hezhong and Shanguo, is the cost a fraction? By the way, Shatuo soldiers and horses are also selling people to our horse dealers. They are all people from Zhaoyi prefectures, isn’t it ridiculous? But it’s just Li Keyong , There are still many Jinshi to vote for, such a brutal person, how is it compared to the King of Lingwu County?"

What Liu Sandou said made several people speechless.

People, after all, yearn for a stable life.No matter how bad order is, it is better than no order.In some places, there is no order at all, such as Henan; in some places, there is no order, and the soldiers even looted their own counties, such as Hedong.

Dingnan army four states, the sergeant did not plunder the place, Pingxia Dangxiang was also defeated.The two largest party departments in Hengshan are also very obedient. I heard that the commander-in-chief also bought two nice houses in Dongcheng, and he wants to bestow them on Yeli Yulue and Wuzang Jieming, and let their children also come to summer. I stayed in Zhouzhou for a while and met my aunt in the county prince's mansion.

This place looks relatively peaceful.

"The king is back!" Suddenly, someone pointed to a rushing torrent in the sky and shouted.

Everyone who was eating stopped their cups and chopsticks, walked out of the restaurant, and looked southwest.A few scholars from other places were a little curious, and they also stood on the side of the road to watch.

But there were hundreds of riders walking in the front, followed by large and small carts, loaded with leather, brown cloth, silk, copper coins, gold and silver wares, all of which were loot seized from Tuoba's house.The last few carts were full of Tuoba family members, including adults, children, servants, etc., with their heads downcast and their eyes glazed over.However, Tuoba Sigong's eldest grandson Tuoba Yichang, Tuoba Sijing father and daughter were not among them, and they seemed to be sent away separately.

Next came the brigade of infantry.The people of Xiazhou knew at a glance that the Tielin Army's Dinghaishenzhen was from the Xiasui four states.Seeing their camel-hair and brown military uniforms was basically reassuring, because it meant that the party members could no longer threaten their lives.

The people living in the four prefectures of Xia and Sui have deep memories of the party's looting and even rebellion.For more than a hundred years, although it was pacified by the imperial army every time, it always caused a lot of harm to the common people.After Huang Chao entered Chang'an, the people of Xiasui thought that the sky was about to collapse, because without the food and salaries from the imperial court, Xiasui's army would definitely be in chaos, and the situation in the four states would also be in chaos. Survive?
Fortunately, none of this happened.After Marshal Shao took over Xiazhou, although the taxes were not reduced, the situation quickly settled down, and his soldiers did not disturb the people, and when they ran out of money, they went to plunder the grasslands and attack Youzhou, and stabilized the Hengshan party. The town has been stable for four or five years in a row, which is really surprising.

"People are calm." The middle-aged scholar glanced at his nephews and said, "The people of Xiasui hope for stability. If the king of Lingwu County can bring them stability, then no one can compare in prestige and status. I heard that Tielin The army was also established by him alone, and it is quite different from other towns, so it must be difficult for the military shogunate, and it should be possible to do it, even if you start as a driving officer or a small envoy."

"Don't hesitate." The middle-aged man continued: "Although the salaries of driving officers and envoys are low, not everyone can do it. At least they must be able to write and count, and know how to read and write official documents. Lingwu County Wang has been recruiting driving officers all year round, which shows that there is a shortage of talents, and this may be a step up."

He is not young, and he especially hopes to be stable.Originally, Central Sichuan was a good place to go, but there is a stable life, a gathering of talents, and many scholars. How can we win over the scholars in Central Sichuan?Only the frontier poor town can find a job, and he brought his nephew here for this reason.However, now it seems that a treasure has been discovered!
　Adding updates for several days in a row, I can't stand it anymore.Those who have a monthly pass can get one reward, um, save it until 29:0 on the 2th and vote for two.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)