In April of this year, Luo Yong and their Hexi Corridor were in the west end of the Huangni town called Changle County, which was shrouded in the shadow of war.

In Chang'an City thousands of miles away, Aunt Luo and others had already left Chang'an City at this time. First, they walked east along the Yellow River, and turned by land along the waterway. Their ships entered the canal in Chuzhou, and headed south along the way, passing Yangzhou, Runzhou, and Changzhou, and all the way to Wuxian in Suzhou. Then they stopped.

At this time, Suzhou was the northernmost prefecture of Jiangnan Road, with six counties under its jurisdiction, facing the East China Sea in the east, Taihu Lake in the west, the Yangtze River in the north, and the south was next to Hangzhou at that time.

Its regional scope includes Suzhou, Changshu, Shanghai, and Jiaxing in later generations, both by the sea and by the lake. There is Songjiang between the sea and lake, and the east and west of the Yangtze River to the north. There is also the Grand Canal built by Emperor Yang of Sui in the previous dynasty. This Grand Canal that runs through the north and south has brought unlimited opportunities to the development of Suzhou.

In the early years of Wude, the household registration was sorted out. At that time, a total of 11,000 households were registered in Suzhou. It should be more than the current situation, but compared with the prosperity of later generations, it must be far behind.

The reason why Aunt Luo chose to come to Suzhou this time instead of Luoyang, Jinling, or Yangzhou is because she once heard that Suzhou can produce tangerines.

Aunt Luo runs a food shop. They plant so much Eucommia glue in Lishi’s hometown. She also has the skills to make canned food, so naturally she doesn’t want to buy canned food from others at a high price.

There are fruits such as peaches, apricots, pears, plums, etc. in Chang'an City. They only need to buy more fruits during the season when they are abundant and make them into canned food. When these fruits are out of season, they can be sold at a higher price.

However, things like oranges and pineapples are not produced in the Central Plains. Some of the managers of their food shops said, "It's okay if you don't have it. It's okay if you don't have one or two foods. Aunt Luo refused to give up easily. This time, she came to Wuxian, Suzhou for a large part of the reason for coming here for tangerines."

This place in Wuxian is very different from the northern part. The people here do not live in yellow mud houses, but build houses with wooden boards. The wooden board houses are nestled together, and the neighbors are also very intimate.

There are many rivers and canals in the city. When you go out, you will be a small river. You will have to cross the bridge in just a few steps. Women and girls squat in groups by the water, washing vegetables, washing clothes, and speaking in Wu's soft words, revealing an indescribable uniqueness and style.

When Aunt Luo and others first arrived in Wu County, they were fascinated by the delicate and beautiful scene in front of them. After two or three days, they gradually became a little uncomfortable.

First of all, there is only a layer of wooden boards between the houses in the south. If an oil lamp is lit next door, the light can shine on their side through the gap between the wooden boards. Even the sound of people next door hiccups can be heard very clearly at night.

Also, I can’t adapt to the food. Wuxian is close to Taihu Lake and there are many waterways in the city. Local people like river food. They often regard the freshness as a beauty, and are not very afraid of fishy food. Aunt Luo and the others prefer salty and fragrant. After eating here for a few days, they feel bland and tasteless in their mouths, and they are more afraid of fishy food. They can’t eat many local dishes at all.

The young man named Chen Ji who came from Hexi lived in Wu County for less than ten days and had to retreat. Aunt Luo was both amused and worried.

The tastes of the north and south are so different, it is not easy for them to run a sister's food shop in Wu County. After thinking about it, Aunt Luo decided to start with sweets, because most of them still like sweets, whether they are southerners or northerners.

Recently, they have looked at a few shops on the street. At this time, the housing prices in Wuxian are much lower than those in Chang'an City. After some observation and comparison, Aunt Luo finally decided to buy a restaurant with a better location.

This tavern covers a large area, has a large front hall, and is a two-story building. In Wuxian, many houses in the city are two-story building, mainly because the local climate is humid and the humidity on the first floor is too high.

This tavern is big, but it looks a little dilapidated. There is also a yard behind the tavern. There is also a row of two-story wooden houses built behind the yard. They are a little old, and they are still useful whether they are living in or used as warehouses.

Going out of this backyard, there is a bluestone path. Next to the bluestone path is a clear river. Standing on the window on the second floor, you can see the small bridges built on this river, most of which are relatively simple.

They are considered to be in a good area in the city. If it is a cheaper place and if the ground is not covered with stone slabs, it will look very muddy, especially the local climate is very wet and rainy.

Perhaps because of this, most local people prefer to wear wooden clogs. In May, many people have already walked around the street wearing wooden clogs.

After Aunt Luo bought the shop, she led a few people under her command. While preparing to open a store, she made a batch of date bean cakes every day to sell them first.

Before the sign of the sister's food shop was hung out, the fragrance of the jujube bean cake had already floated to the streets and alleys of Wuxian. When this batch of jujube bean cake was made every day, some Wuxian children wearing wooden clogs and rolled their legs around the shop and stretched their necks to look at it. However, not every household could bear to eat the jujube bean cake that cost a penny.

At the beginning, only neighbors from all over the world came to buy one or two to eat. Within a few days, the reputation spread. Many wealthy families in the city sent their families to buy it, and some could buy more than five or six at a time.

If they brought their own food boxes to buy them, Aunt Luo would pick out the badly jujube bean cakes and cut them out as a small piece of them as a supplement, which would be worth the money of a piece of oil paper. If they came over empty-handed, they would be gone.

This small piece of jujube bean cake was probably all involved in the mouths of these errand-run servants and servants. Therefore, whenever the master sent them out to buy jujube bean cake, these girls and boys were very happy.

Aunt Luo sells these date bean cakes every day, but in fact she doesn’t make much money. The main reason is that she does not produce red dates in the local area. The red dates here are much more expensive than those in Chang'an Chenghe East Road and other places.

I heard that it is good now. Decades ago, the red dates here were even more expensive. Later, the Grand Canal was opened. The red dates in the north could go south along the canal. The waterways they walked did not require a lot of manpower and animal power. However, not everyone could use the river channel. Apart from official ships, ordinary merchants would inevitably be exploited layer by layer if they wanted to sail on this river channel.

In addition to red dates, the flour here is also more expensive than the north, brown sugar is cheaper, and the price of eggs is also cheaper than that of Chang'an City.

In addition to copper coins, Aunt Luo and their shops are also willing to collect silk thread and grain, and eggs are also collected. Usually, three eggs can be exchanged for a piece of date bean cake. The grain thread depends on the quality.

The ones they have collected the most recently are rice, except eggs, and the country of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River. There is less millet, wheat and more rice.

Aunt Luo was talking to the local people who came to exchange jujube bean cakes all day long, and often said something wrong, which led to some jokes. Before they came to Suzhou, they hired people to teach Wu Yu for a few days in Chang'an City. They still didn't learn it like it. Fortunately, there are many scholars in Wu County who can speak official language, but their official language is not very similar. Aunt Luo and others sometimes want to laugh when they hear it.

Some Chang'an merchants who came with Aunt Luo and others at this time also built shops on the streets of Wuxian. Several shops often walked around, and there was a lot of business in everything. It was vaguely led by Aunt Luo.

The reason behind this is naturally because of Luo Yong. Although the other businesses also have their own relationships, Aunt Luo is the sister of Li Shi Luo Sanlang.

What kind of person is Li Shi Luo Sanlang? Although he has been squeezed out of Chang'an City, he can even make such a big tea deal in the small town of Changle County.

Not to mention the future of this person, just now, these merchants traveled all the way to Suzhou City to open a shop, and they may not have the intention to get involved in tea trading. The tea trading is now in the hands of those merchants in Lishi, and Lishi Luosanlang plays a key role in this.

When the neighbors on the street where the Sister Food Store were located heard about these things, most of them were a little skeptical. Seeing Aunt Luo rolling up her sleeves and working all day, she was not like those legendary big names.

Some well-informed wealthy families in the city knew what they knew. Many people were wondering why Aunt Luo came to Wuxian? Could it be that their local tea business can indeed make great progress?

I want to invest in tea production, but I am worried about the war in the border area. As soon as this battle starts this year, the Hu merchants in the Western Regions are afraid that they will not come here. I don’t know what the situation will be next and next year...

“…Is it collected?”

On that day, everyone else in the shop was busy in the backyard. Aunt Luo brought a stool and sat in front of the shop to pick up beans. At this time, an old man came over and asked her if she would collect something. Aunt Luo didn't hear it clearly for a while.

"What are you talking about?" Aunt Luo put the basket of beans under the wall and basked her palms and stood up.

"Tea! I'll ask you if you want to collect tea?" the old man said loudly.

"Hey, collect, please take a look with me first." Aunt Luo heard it clearly this time and said with a smile.

When the old man heard this, he handed over the basket in his hand to him. The tea was also good tea, all of which were tender leaves and buds he picked from the back mountain of his home. It was just not like the teas transported to the west recently. The shops in the city that had heard that there were tea collections recently refused to ask for it. There was a medicine shop that said it was two cents for him. The old man refused, so he came to Aunt Luo with the basket.

Aunt Luo looked at the tea leaves in this basket. It was not very large. It was placed in a small basket and put half a basket. The things were very good, and they were all dried out with tender tea leaves.

"But you want to change the date cake?" Aunt Luo asked him.

"How many dollars do you have to do with me?" the old man asked.

"Today's date cake is almost sold out." Aunt Luo opened the steamer and looked at him: "There are only these pieces left. If you are willing to change them, you will all be with you."

When the old man came out of Aunt Luo's shop, he held a bag of date cakes in his arms, six large ones and one small ones.

His family is on the outskirts of Wuxian, and there are several tea trees growing in the back mountain. Every spring, when the tea grows, he picks some when he has time, and he can't sell it for much money. He saves it and takes it to the city. However, he only changes to a two-month or three-month period. He heard that the tea price is more expensive this year, so he wants to sell it a little more. Unexpectedly, he can get back this big bag of date cakes.

The old man was walking on the road, feeling happy, and his steps could not help but speed up a little.

His daughter-in-law has been in the house for three or four years. She just got pregnant last year. Recently, her stomach has become bigger and bigger. She is still hungry all day long. She can take these pieces of date cakes back and can also replenish them with her.
Chapter completed!