Chapter 19: Is the melon ripe?

Chapter 19: Is the melon ripe?

The next day, Li Tai got up a little late and was not in good spirits. Simply skip the morning exercise, save energy and some food.

He tossed and turned last night, contemplating a farming plan for a long time. But in fact, in the world before him, landowners were even more scarce than in this world, and he had almost no practical experience in farming.

But out of the dignity and sense of superiority of a time traveler, he still felt that he was only one piece of land away from achieving hegemony. The Northern Zhou and Northern Qi were all just local chickens and dogs, so it was nothing to worry about!

Regardless of whether this arrogance is justified or not, this mentality is really commendable, at least it can make him positive and energetic.

Gao Huan, the overlord of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he was determined to defeat his boss and mess with whomever he wanted. He was so panicked when he ran that he almost shot his own son to death. His perseverance finally brought down the Erzhu family. , replace it.

Li Tai didn't dare to compare himself arrogantly to Gao Huan, but who wasn't an ambitious young man who dreamed of becoming Lu?

Breakfast is no longer meatballs, just a steaming bowl of noodle soup, but it can still fill my stomach.

Huazhou City's political management is so-so, but some rules are strict. The market does not open early in the morning and cannot be entered until afternoon.

Li Tai was filled with a sense of crisis, and naturally he was not willing to waste time. After breakfast, he placed a bookcase in the front hall and ordered the servants in the middle of the house to come in in turn, asking them what skills they had and how to prepare for the next step. Prepare talents for the great cause of farming.

"Excellent skills...Excuse me, Master Lang, what are special skills?"

"Besides eating and drinking, what else do you do? Plowing fields, planting mulberries, weaving hemp, carpentry, making pottery, and making pottery. You should be able to do the same thing, right?"

Li Tai really didn't know what skills the ancients needed to survive. He asked people around him and combined the entries in ancient books he read such as "Essentials of Qi Min" and "Tiangong Kaiwu" to sort out some tips for farming development. Type of work required.

The person who came into the hall to be questioned was an old soldier from Xianbei. He was still a little dumbfounded when he heard Li Tai's enumerated questions. He mumbled for a moment and then whispered: "I grew up in the city. I only recognize flags and drums to give orders, formations to advance and retreat, and farming." I’ve never used it, but, but I know how to raise livestock, and I also know how to ram walls, erect fences, and make bricks..."

"It's a long-term plan. What's your name?"

This was obviously a veteran city citizen. Although he had no basic farming skills, he was proficient in many acrobatics and could be regarded as a talent. Li Tai lowered his head and recorded it, then asked the next person: "What's your plan?"

After such cross-examination and sorting out, it was morning before I knew it. The door servant announced that it was He Basheng who was sending someone to visit, so he quickly put down the business at hand and went out to greet him.

"My lord, I will send you eighty soldiers, half of them men and women, for your husband to take a look. He also told me that I was ordered to patrol the east this morning. I have not been in the city recently. I ask my husband to pay a visit as soon as possible. If the soldiers are still not enough, Just tell me again!”

"That's enough, that's enough! Please thank Grand Master Heba for me. When Grand Master returns to the city in the future, he will definitely come to thank you!"

Li Tai looked at the troops standing in the vestibule with mixed emotions. He even seriously suspected that these old military leaders were filling his place one by one because they could not afford to support them.

But even if you can't afford it, others can give it away or sell it, and it can be considered a favor if you are willing to give it to yourself. Moreover, in addition to these soldiers, He Basheng also added a cart of twenty shi of grain, which indeed made Li Tai extremely grateful.

Because they had to go to the military camp outside the city to rendezvous, He Basheng's soldiers said goodbye and left after delivering the personnel and supplies, and Li Tai returned to the front hall to continue the reorganization and interrogation work.

It was not until noon that Gao Bailing and Governor Shi Heland, who went to Daxingtai Mansion to deal with the matter of receiving the farmland, returned and brought back the deed of the farmland reward.

The deed only stated that Shangyuan Township, Wuxiang County, should be allocated a pastoral home, but it did not specify the specific area. However, according to the land equalization system of the Northern Wei Dynasty, a man could be granted 40 acres of open fields and 20 acres of mulberry fields. Gao Zhongmi was also a Situ in the Western Wei Dynasty, so logically speaking, he should have at least a dozen acres.

"Where is Shang Yuan Township?"

Li Tai asked, holding the document that represented the starting point of his hegemony. Next to him, Heland said with a smile: "Shangyuan was located on the east bank of Luoshui River, thirty miles west of the present city. It was a famous fat town in the state. . But if the weather is favorable, we can harvest rice and rice and have enough food."

When Li Tai heard this figure, he was very excited, but he also thought that in the Western Wei Dynasty, the measurement system was all small, and in a unified and prosperous dynasty, the so-called yield per mu would be reduced in half.

With this document, you can go to the countryside to claim your farmland at any time. The top priority right now is what to have for dinner.

Li Tai came from a later generation with abundant material. He was used to eating three meals a day, including a bowl of noodle soup for breakfast. He was already feeling hungry, so he put away his documents, ordered some money and silk from his residence, and left home with Gao Bailing and others. Enter the market.

With the experience of yesterday's trip, he specially brought a few Hu servants with him this time. With these Hu soldiers leading the way, he encountered no harassment along the way.

There is only one commercial market in Huazhou City, located in the west of the city. The market is separated from the outside world by a fence, and soldiers stationed in front of the market gate can be seen from a distance.

Gao Bailing counted more than a dozen coins per person to enter the market, but until they entered the market gate, no one came forward to collect the money. Only one team leader warned them not to make noise and cause trouble in the market.

"Xi Chao actually doesn't collect market money?"

Gao Bailing threw the counted coins back into the money basket in the car with a surprised look on his face. Apparently, the Hebei market brought in too much money, which made him feel at a loss.

Li Tai felt that this was not necessarily because the Western Wei government was considerate of the people. Due to its difficult financial situation, the lack of relevant city taxes could only mean that market transactions were sluggish. If more taxes were imposed, the scale of the commodity economy would only shrink further.

After entering the market, Li Tai was not in a hurry to go inside. Instead, he looked around the market gate. It was not until his entourage came to ask that he said strangely: "Why is there no current price list of materials in this market?"

An old Kansai member of the entourage said: "There may be a big market in Kanto, but there has never been one in Kansai. People from nearby villages are the ones who buy and sell in the market. Integrity is the basis. Anyone who cheats will not be allowed to leave the market alive. Destroy the rural customs!”

Li Tai couldn't help but sweat profusely when he heard this, and he felt more and more powerful about the folk customs of Kansai.

Although the rules of the market are simple, the atmosphere is good. What you see at the entrance is a vegetable market with several rows of shops, but most of them are on the ground or set up with carts to form a stall. Looking at it reminds me of the temple fairs or festivals that will be seen in later generations. A big gathering, although lively but not cluttered.

Gao Bailing was looking for people in the market to question, and learned that the grain market was still on the south edge of the city, so the group went to buy grain first and then wandered around.

Although the market was not large in size, it had many types of products. What Li Tai saw along the way was that there was a meat market inside the vegetable market. Several skinned sheep were hung on wooden racks, and the smell was blown away by the wind. Further south are various handmade cages, baskets and utensils, as well as many dusty pottery miscellaneous furnishings.

The grain market is quite large, accounting for almost half of the entire market, and the types of grains sold are also diverse.

Grains, sesame, etc., the common cereals and coarse grains in later generations, except corn, are almost all displayed, as well as elm coins and other plant seeds and tubers that Li Tai has never seen before. However, the processed rice and flour grains are not displayed outside and are only sold in shops.

“Fellow, how much is the current price of these soybeans and bean sprouts?”

In line with the principle of comparing shopping and not being taken advantage of, Li Tai got off his horse, walked to a stall, pointed at a can of soybeans and asked. The bean was smaller and shriveled than what he would see later, and looked a bit stunted.

The grain seller was a middle-aged man with a dark complexion. He seemed not used to being called such a friendly person by Li Tai, and looking at the large number of people, he seemed a little timid. After a while, he raised his hand and waved: "No money..."

Are the fellows from Guanzhong so enthusiastic?

Li Tai was greatly surprised when he heard this. Before he could be happy about the opportunity to get it for free, the fellow who was breathing heavily said again: "All I need is cloth, a bushel and a piece of cloth!"

Cloth is a relatively rough linen fabric, and it is also the most common clothing material worn by civilians. A piece of cloth is forty feet long, and based on eight feet per person, it can cut clothes for five people, but it can only be exchanged for a bucket of twelve kilograms of soybeans. In later generations, it would only weigh a little over five kilograms.

Although Li Tai did not understand the value exchange of different commodities and labor force, he also felt that the price was a bit expensive. Soybeans, a basic crop, can grow by sowing seeds on the ground, but the process of making cloth is much more complicated.

"How much does that piece of cloth cost?"

Li Tai didn't want to make a joke about why he didn't eat minced meat, so he asked again.

"for free!"

The fellow was still breathing heavily when he spoke, raised a finger and said: "A bushel of sugarcane!"

Li Tai suddenly felt that his IQ had been insulted. He turned around and went to another stall, pointed at a sack of barley and asked, "What's the market price of this barley?"

"Three buckets of wheat and one piece of cloth!"

The fellow answered simply, and Li Tai asked again: "Where is the discount?"

"for free!"

It seems that the ancient small-scale peasant economy was still accustomed to barter transactions.

Li Tai sighed in his heart, and then pointed to several other items and asked about the price. Although the fellow was annoyed that he only asked if he wanted to buy, but seeing that there were so many people, he could only patiently answer them one by one. All the items used to measure transactions were cloth. The most outrageous thing was that even the earthen pot of elm money only cost three pieces of cloth!

The fellow villagers didn't care about money. For a while, Li Tai couldn't figure out whether it was because of his nostalgia or because these fellow villagers were deliberately playing tricks on him, a foreigner. He couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He knocked on the gourd filled with sesame seeds and asked fiercely: "You Is this melon still ripe?”

"I think this husband is a visitor from another country. It's not that the people from the country don't want to sell their goods, but there is a lot of bad money in Guanxi, so we can't stay in the market for long!"

At this time, a spectator who had been observing them for a long time came up to Li Tai and said: "Guan Langjun behaves in an elegant manner, so he must buy a lot of materials. It is difficult to collect them all in the scattered market. The small shop in the back belongs to a certain residence, a local place." We have everything, and many famous people in the city are supplying it. Why don’t we go into the shop and discuss the matter?”