Landlord of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 199 Mala Tang

It's like making an appointment.

After the quarterly exam, the weather suddenly turned cold.The students were on vacation, and the harvest at home was good, so they naturally stayed at home comfortably and warmed up the fire.

But the [-] victims suffered.

When they came to Cangzhou, they brought very few clothes, and some of them were just one piece of clothing.

After working these days, I saved a lot of food and changed a lot of old clothes.But those clothes were very thin, and they couldn't stand the cold wind.I have to go out to work to improve the saline-alkali land, otherwise I will not be able to live on the regular rations.Even if you hide in the house, you have to cover yourself with a quilt so that you won't get sick if you warm up by the fire.

The previous arrangement has completed the two links of "food" and "housing". Xu Qing thought that everything would be fine, but now he realizes that the real challenge is coming.

The trick of fooling the businessman must not be used anymore, but the government can't afford this sum of money to buy warm clothes.Of course, the time has come to October, and the victims will be able to leave in only ten days. Xu Qing can also make the victims resist the past ten days.

But Xu Qing has obsessive-compulsive disorder. He helps people to the end and sends Buddha to the west. Since he has accepted the victims and promised to treat the victims like family members, he must be responsible to the end, and he must not break his promise and lose weight.

Otherwise, there were rumors that Xu Qing was a god who came down to earth. As soon as Xu Qing was worried, good news came immediately.

And there are two of them.

First, the news came from Huanghua Port. To be more precise, the news came from Bohai Sea.

It turned out that when dealing with a large number of materials left by the Xi people, there were a lot of fur clothing and leather products.The whole country in Bohai Sea can't use it all together, so I picked some half-new and old fur clothes and leather products to ship and sent them to Cangzhou.

Of course, it is not a free gift. Bohai returned many iron tools, wheat and rice, cloth and silk, and other Central Plains products.This time, Duan Hongchen asked for these fur clothes to be sent over, and he also wanted to make a small deal.

The four big ships were full, Xu Qing asked, maybe there are [-] coats?The boss of the escort ship rubbed his hands and said:

"Is there any? There are only [-] robes and [-] jackets. They are very warm, but they are a little old. They have been washed and dried, and they are not dirty."

That's [-], it's enough, Xu Qing was delighted, patted the boss of the boat on the shoulder and asked him: "What are you going to change?"

The boat boss said: "One piece of roe deer can be exchanged for ten catties of rice, or four taels of cloth."

Xu Qing asked suspiciously: "Can you transport hundreds of thousands of catties of rice back with these three ships?"

The boss of the ship: "No, there are still several ships. The port here is too small to get in. If we change the rice, we can change the cloth and we can ship it back."

"Oh, how long can you stay here?"

"Leave after changing, leave after changing,"

"Okay, okay, you unload the goods, I will arrange board and lodging for you, and I have some things to discuss with you."

After unloading, Xu Qing had already arranged a banquet here. The dishes included Liaodong dishes, Central Plains dishes, and stir-fried dishes from Xu Qing's family. .

After the banquet, Xu Qing discussed with the boss about exchanging clothes with the victims.The boss of the boat was surprised that the victims came here to hide from the disaster, and they still made money.Xu Qing explained that in the end, the boss of the boat almost burst into tears. He said, if he had met such a good official as Mr. Xu, their family would not have been living in Liaodong in the first place.

The two parties agreed on the place of exchange, saying that they would give priority to changing jackets for disaster victims and robes for people in Cangzhou.Long robes are good for keeping out the cold, but they are not conducive to working. The jackets are short and thick, making them good for working.

In addition to clothes, there are felt hats, wool shoes and other things that can be exchanged.There is a saying that one hat tops three coats. For the victims who have to go out for a long time, felt hats are more important.So it was changed to them first.

Ten catties of rice for a coat, a catty of rice for three yuan, and a coat for 30 yuan. This is a 9.8% discount that will be snatched up by people in later generations.

Even here, it seems to be very hot.After the victims were replaced, the rest seemed like a drop in the bucket in Cangzhou.At this time, the boss of the ship also discovered this business opportunity. The local people in Cangzhou can consume so much. What if they connect the entire Central Plains through a caravan?Isn't that rich?

There are so many furs in the grasslands, if furs can be easily exchanged for supplies from the Central Plains, who would fight wars at every turn?Tsk tsk tsk, after going back this time, I must come again several times.By the way, there seems to be a stockpile of supplies at Dahe's side, how about, hehe, buy them at a low price!
When the boss of the boat made calculations, the victims all exchanged their wages and food for clothes, and finally got a lot warmer.But there is another problem. There is no fire at night, so I can't sleep well.

At this time, it is time to say the second good news.

This news was discovered by Xu Qing when he was in a daze on the city wall.

"Clang clang..."

When a caravan's bell rang, Xu Qing looked at it habitually, but this time, Xu Qing couldn't see what the caravan transported at a glance.However, looking at the merchant flag, it is the authentic Cangzhou Chamber of Commerce merchant flag.

When they arrived at the gate of the city, a car in the convoy turned sideways slightly and leaked something. Only then did Xu Qing know where the caravan came from.

coal!
When Manid went out to do business last time, Xu Qing asked him to buy a pile of coal in Shanxi, which is also called coal in the Tang Dynasty, and send it to Cangzhou.At that time, Xu Qing hadn't figured out what to do with the coal, steelmaking or fuel, but subconsciously felt that coal was very important and useful.So Manid was asked to bring it, and Xu Qing also left this matter behind for many days, but he did not expect to send it here today.

This is really sending charcoal in the snow. Although it has not snowed yet, for Cangzhou, it is not just a timely rain.The victims were finally able to light a fire to keep warm.

Someone asked, why are there so many trees in the mountains not cut down for use? It was not so important to protect forests in ancient times.

Xu Qing thought the same way at first, but later he realized that the trees in the mountains were too wet, and they would not burn if they were cut down and left in the sun for a few days.The slightly dry firewood on the mountain was picked up by the local villagers, and even the fallen leaves were swept away.For winter, the most indispensable thing is fire and food.

Two hundred carts of coal were sent over, each cart containing [-] catties, [-] catties of coal, or [-] tons.Xu Qing wanted to make these coals into briquettes, and mixed them with loess and cow dung. At least one hundred thousand roots of briquettes could be made.

If the disaster victims are divided equally, each person will only have two lotus roots, and if they are distributed according to their household registration, then there will be twelve lotus roots.Ten households of the victims are guaranteed, and briquettes can also be distributed according to the guarantee, or only [-] lotus roots can be distributed. Anyway, the victims live together and huddle together for warmth.

At this time, the "technical personnel" selected first can come in handy.With the equipment used for beating lotus root coal, they can make it quickly with a little hint from Xu Qing.

It was rushed overnight, and the next day, the first batch of coal was distributed to the victims. For the time being, every [-] lotus root was guaranteed, and there was no more to distribute.When the victims received briquettes, they were instructed to open the skylights to burn coal for heating.

Eight or nine days passed in a flash, and the [-]-day deadline was approaching. The victims distributed briquettes for the second time.At this time, the victims have already begun to miss their hometown.Moreover, they have food and clothing in their hands, and some "technical personnel" have made tools, such as hoes and hatchets, and they can make a living when they return to their hometowns.

However, there are still a large number of victims who hope to work here for more than ten days. Anyway, they have food, shelter, and money to earn. It is better to go back in the spring.

But the government can no longer pay, so Xu Qing ordered all the chiefs to register all the fields that have been transformed.If you still want to continue the reconstruction, you can also hire the disaster victims yourself, but you must not force them, you have to be willing, and the wages must be appropriate.

Some of the victims picked up their luggage and went back to their hometown together.What makes them happy is that they came empty-handed, but they had to carry their luggage when they left.

On the border of Cangzhou, thousands of disaster victims returning home gathered there. They came from all directions, but at the same time stayed at the border.

There is a stone tablet with "Cangzhou" written in front of it, that is to say, one step further, except for the boundary of Cangzhou, why do these people stay here?

For nothing else, they want to build a souvenir here to commemorate what the people of Cangzhou have done for them in the past [-] days.And there is no innovation in the way of commemoration-the statue of Xu Cishi.

And this statue is similar to those of Xu Cishi Temple in Cangzhou City, with a big belly, a long beard, a lot of chins, and a wretched face.Of course, the wretched look was Xu Qing's conclusion after reading it.

There are also some elderly people in the nursing home, and some who lost their families, stayed next to the statue, saying that they would guard the statue of Xu Cishi until they died.Orphans are even taken in here, guarding the statue of the governor, and passing it down from generation to generation.Xu Qing enjoys this kind of personal worship, that is, in the temple, he can't take the offerings under the statue, which is a bit annoying.

Those who stayed in Cangzhou were all hired as part-time workers. Some were hired by rich families alone, and some were jointly hired by several families and a group of people.Of course, the wages have increased a lot, but other benefits have dropped a lot, and there will be no more pork bone soup delivered to the construction site.

There was still a lot of coal left, so Xu Qing wanted to make use of it, so he asked the craftsman to build a square iron box. Under the box was a stove for putting coal.On the top, there are many grids, and there are small holes connecting the grids.

What is this for?
Xu Qing wants to eat Malatang!
In the past, when there was no briquette, firewood could only be used for fire. The firepower was unstable, and firewood had to be turned over frequently.Xu Qing was barely able to eat a hot pot, let alone a big pot of Mala Tang.

The briquette is different. A tube of coal can be burned for a whole morning. When not eating, the pores can be closed, and the coal can keep warm for most of the day.

Autumn is late, and winter is coming. I will live in the house from now on, and I will not rest until spring.I will not go shopping, walk my dog, or take a walk.I am a frequent visitor next to the hot pot, and the guard next to Malatang. I dedicate my life and glory to the bed, today and in the future.

There is only one thing that is a pity, that is, no matter how powerful Xu Qing is, he can't find the magical crop in remote South America-pepper.

Malatang is a misnomer.

(End of this chapter)