I played as an assistant in ancient times

Chapter 307 Friendly

The team members had already worked together last time, and as they were traveling light this time, they were able to go very fast. In just one and a half days, they arrived at the official road fork six miles south of Zhuozhou city.

Although it would only take another three or four days to reach Hejian Prefecture, Shen Changsui, who had accompanied Mr. Cheng back to get the books, could no longer accompany Shen Xiaoye.

He explained: "Good quality and low price are never considered at the same time. When you arrive in Suining, if you buy goods from the weaving farmers, you must not force the price down.

You can never make enough money. A penny you save may allow a child to have an extra meal in the winter.

Don’t think your uncle is preaching to you, we have also been through hard times.”

"No, I remember that I also come from a farming family." Shen Xiaoye assured him.

Mr. Cheng, who heard their conversation in the carriage, could not help but nod his head repeatedly. Finally, as he watched the convoy gallop away, he said to Shen Changsui, "If your little niece is a boy, she will definitely be your arm in the future."

"She is now." Shen Changsui secretly clenched his fists. No matter what, he must pass the imperial examination next year. Only then can he help Xiaoye turn the cloth workshop into an integrated industry of planting, weaving and dyeing.

……

Shen Xiaoye's journey was not delayed at all, because he had hired the escort chief Chang. They managed their time well, and when they encountered some road bullies blocking the road, they had the help of more than 20 veterans in the convoy, so they passed smoothly without much effort.

Because of the rain on the way, they arrived in Hejian Prefecture four days later. The most famous dish here is donkey meat hot pot.

Lin Erniu said, "If we had known that the city was so big, we would have sold our furs ourselves."

"Hejian is not short of furs. I wonder how many donkey skins are produced every year." Old escort leader Chang led everyone to a small shop near the government office. It was not yet dinner time, so there was no need to wait for a table.

Shen Xiaoye asked: "Can't donkey skin be used to make donkey-hide gelatin?"

"It has to be from Dong'e in Lu. Donkeys from other places are not as good." Xuanmiao smelled the aroma of the braised meat and couldn't help but complain, "Too many hawthorns were put in."

"Haha, Taoist priest, you don't know, his family has many regular customers, and they like the meat to be cooked well." Old escort leader Chang came in first.

Following them, about 20 big men came in. The owner was startled, "Dear guests?"

"Store owner, please bring over 200 donkey meat hot buns first. If they are tasty and affordable, pack up another 200 tomorrow morning.

Now let's serve your signature dishes, table five." The tables and benches here are not like the long tables and benches in the big carriage inn. The standard octagonal table is just right for eight people.

Shen Xiaoye has never been stingy. He tries his best to make sure everyone eats well and even orders water and wine for everyone.

This time the convoy did not bring any goods, so after arriving at the carriage store, all twenty-eight team members came.

When they went home before, they were worried that the Fourth Master Lu had not returned, so everyone might have to do odd jobs this month.

Unexpectedly, first Mr. Lu came out to gather everyone to appease the situation, and then Miss Shen was hired again.

Unfortunately, the two brothers who took private jobs in Datong were no longer hired because of a small loss.

When everyone was seated, they would not sit at the same table with the women. Even Uncle Lin and Old Escort Chang were not there, because they brought Erniu and Zhuangzhuang to the team members' table and watched over four tables.

Five tables were filled at once, and the happy owner quickly called on the women and children in the back to greet the guests.

He and his waiters quickly cut the meat, served the dishes and made steamed buns. Although they couldn't make 200 buns at once, they could still make dozens of buns quickly.

Cut the freshly baked buns with a knife, fill them with donkey meat and jelly, take a bite of the crispy aroma, and pair it with hot soup, it's so delicious.

Shen Xiaoye particularly likes to eat the ones with more meat jelly. After eating two in a row, she still felt unsatisfied, but the store owner didn’t have much supply at the moment.

The little black cat prefers fried sausage and steamed dumplings. Shen Xiaoye was embarrassed to urge him, so he could only eat the lamb intestine soup bite by bite.

Xuan Yuan, who was standing next to her, saw that she was always looking at the stove, so he considerately gave her one of his own.

She waved her hand to thank him. Just as she was about to speak, she saw two scholars in satin robes entering the store. One of them turned around and saw her, and was extremely surprised: "Miss Shen?"

"County Magistrate Tan." Shen Xiaoye quickly stood up and clasped his fists. The old escort leader Chang at the other table recognized him and quickly stood up and saluted. Everyone followed suit.

The people around County Magistrate Tan laughed and said, "He is now the Magistrate of Suning County."

Shen Xiaoye's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurried over and said, "This is an old friend we met in a foreign land. We are going to Suning tomorrow, and I wonder if we can have the honor of traveling with Magistrate Tan?

Come, come, come, it’s better to meet by chance than to invite each other. Please quickly open another table and serve the donkey meat hotpot and mutton soup first. "

"Coming." The shop owner opened his shop near the government office and had seen many officials, so he was not very nervous and brought the tray over very quickly.

It was mainly because I served well, and most officials gave me generous rewards.

The old soldiers of the Beijing camp still had the habits of warriors. They were not afraid of a seventh-rank county magistrate. At Shen Xiaoye's signal, they sat back, stopped playing rock-paper-scissors, and continued to eat and drink.

Upon receiving her signal, the escort leader Chang came forward and invited the two of them to take a seat. He was also a well-known figure in Linghe County, and he had feasted with the county's chief officials and clerks many times.

The people around Magistrate Tan thought that his classmate would refuse, but he sat down openly and waved to the girl, "Sit down. Are you here to buy cloth in Suning?"

"That's right." Shen Xiaoye did not hesitate and sat down below the old escort leader Chang. When Lin Erniu at the other table saw his father looking worried, he tactfully came over to pour tea for the few people and sat down at the very bottom to help take over.

County Magistrate Tan remembered him. He never expected that in just one year, this young boy who was a little afraid of meeting the officials at first could already control himself in front of him.

He smiled and said, “Well, the cloth in our county is indeed no worse than that in the south.

There has been a big cotton harvest in several villages recently, and you have come at the right time, and you can also place an advance order for next year."

So that's what happened. His friend finally understood why he sat down. It was because last summer, several cloth merchants headed by the Wu family had excessively lowered the price in Suining, causing bloodshed and casualties, and then they withdrew one after another, resulting in the farmers' cotton and cloth being stagnant in the second half of the year.

It is too difficult to rely on self-production and self-consumption if the big cloth merchants do not come to purchase. And to be honest, the quality of the cloth woven by the farmers at the grassroots level is uneven, and this cannot go on.

After taking office in the same year, he actively worked to clear up some of the losses and, when persuading farmers to switch from cotton to grain, he found that the local soil was more profitable for growing cotton than growing grain.

This year's good cotton harvest means that a large amount of cloth will be produced next spring. Although Suining belongs to Cangzhou, it is nearly 200 miles away, and it is not easy for farmers to make the trip.

The cloth you weave in a whole year is not enough to feed yourself if you only sell it nearby. Even if it is hard currency, it is useless if you can't sell it at a good price.

It was for this reason that County Magistrate Tan wanted to ask Shen Xiaoye how much he could take and whether he could recruit colleagues to buy more.

The two parties had a friendly exchange at the dinner table. Shen Xiaoye said, "As far as I know, the Wu family still intends to return to Suning."

Magistrate Tan said: "It won't work, at least not on the surface.

It was the manager of his cloth shop who beat the man up, and several nearby villages were hostile to them."