Chapter 42
Donglin Township is a village further south from Xiaxi Village, and it takes about an hour to walk there.
When Gu Ran arrived in Donglin Township, he understood why there was a boat in this village.
It is said that Donglin Township has hundreds of households and is a large village.
Later, Gu Ran discovered that there was a big market in Donglin Village without going to the county town.
This is all because Donglin Village has unique advantages. The area to the north of the village is adjacent to a small river called Wujiang. The Wujiang River flows upstream, passing through an island formed by the collision with another river called Fujiang. Going upstream along the river, you can reach Yongchang County. The Wujiang River flows downstream, and after merging with Fujiang, it becomes a large river. After going downstream for a thousand miles, you can reach the river mouth and flow into the East China Sea.
Donglin Township built a ferry on the riverside.
People from many nearby villages who want to go to the coast of Fujiang River estuary or take the water to the county town and other places will come to Donglin Village to take a boat. There are many people coming and going, and it is not too lively.
Therefore, Donglin Township is much more prosperous than Xiaxi Village.
These merchants who came and went, as well as many people from the surrounding areas who wanted to make money from the ferry passengers, and even people from the village, set up stalls in Donglin Township to sell their goods, forming a natural market.
Of course, according to people's custom, the market only reaches its largest scale on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. During ordinary times, the market is only for small vendors who stay in Donglin Township to make a living.
Gu Ran took a quick glance at the market and found that there were vendors selling food, woven goods, pottery and porcelain, as well as those selling poultry and river fish, medicinal herbs and wild animals. There were many kinds of things, but they were all bulk goods.
There were also cloths for making clothes, but Gu Ran didn't know how to sew, so it was useless to buy just one piece of cloth. There was also a shortage of food rations and daily necessities such as soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and tea in the market. If he wanted to buy these necessities, he could only go to the county town.
So Gu Ran looked around and bought a bamboo basket worth ten cents, which was convenient for carrying things on his back.
Village chief Wu, who brought Gu Ran here, explained: Many of these were brought here for sea merchants to see.
The Great Sheng Dynasty did not ban maritime transportation and was also vigorously developing sea routes. In addition to the canals dug by the previous dynasty, many new shipping terminals had been built in major coastal cities. Maritime trade was also booming in the coastal prefectures and counties of Fujian.
The villages and county towns along the Fujiang and Wujiang Rivers are also gradually using waterways to benefit their people.
"It's a pity that our Xiaxi Village has many mountains and forests, unlike Donglin Township, where we can live by relying on water."
It is said that Donglin Township was originally a small village with less than 20 households, just like Xiaxi Village. However, the village chief at that time was very smart. When he saw the Wujiang River, he came up with the idea of building a ferry to provide ferry services, which would be convenient for both others and his own family.
Donglin Township has prospered year by year thanks to the ferry, and more and more villagers are willing to settle in Donglin Township. Judging from the trend, there will be even more in the future.
Village chief Wu had a look of envy on his face, and he did not hide his jealousy towards Donglin Township at all.
Gu Ran didn't eat breakfast, just drank water and walked directly from Xiaxi Village to Donglin Township. When he saw steamed buns being sold in the market, he directly invited Village Chief Wu to come over for breakfast.
Although I had no money, I could still afford a bowl of porridge and two steamed buns.
She is now a resident of Xiaxi Village. Village Chief Wu took good care of her yesterday and bought a good house from her at a low price. Of course, she should thank him very much.
Village chief Wu brought Gu Ran to Donglin Township not just to lead the way, but also to Yongchang County.
One was to handle the house deeds and land deeds for Gu Ran, and the other was to attend to other village affairs, so they came here together to take the boat.
It only takes half an hour to travel from Donglin Township to Yongchang County by water. Including the journey from Xiaxi Village, it takes a total of one and a half hours, which is shorter than walking or riding a donkey cart.
As for the boat fare, it costs twenty-five cents, and fifty cents for a round trip.
It is much more cost-effective than walking directly from Xiaxi Village to the county town for three hours, paying for an overnight stay in the county town, and then walking another three hours on the mountain road the next day.
Villagers who live far away from the county town try to go there as little as possible. The round trip is too time-consuming and laborious, but traveling by water is expensive for ordinary people. Therefore, even if there is a ferry, most of the people on the boat are merchants and travelers.
The rowboat that Gu Ran was riding in was carrying people going to Yongchang County, about five or six people. She and Village Chief Wu sat at the bow of the boat, watching the boatman row with the pole, leave the ferry, and then slowly row upstream.
While enjoying the scenery along the river, Gu Ran and Village Chief Wu chatted casually, asking about each other's situation. Gu Ran no longer used the fact that the original owner was the adopted daughter of Ningyuan Marquis Mansion to make a big deal about it, nor did he say that the original owner was once the fourth wife of Qin Xiangfu. He just said that she was implicated and exiled here, and was about to divorce her ex-husband, so she settled alone in Xiaxi Village.
Village Chief Wu seemed quite sympathetic and encouraged Gu Ran: "It's okay. Even if we women lose our husbands, as long as we work hard, we can still make a living. If you want to find another man, I will help you keep an eye out."
The Great Sheng Dynasty did not impose many restrictions on independent female households. The government even had laws to support and exempt female households from taxes (but since Gu Ran was in exile, this law did not apply to them for the time being).
This is because the founding emperor of the Great Sheng Dynasty, Wuzong, was a female emperor, and Wenzong was also a female emperor. Until the third generation, there was no suitable candidate for a female emperor, so a young man from the Han royal family was pushed to the throne, who is the current Holy Emperor Sejong.
The current royal family has a princess who is extremely intelligent, and the Dasheng Dynasty is very likely to welcome its fourth empress.
The third prince, who was involved in the treason case involving the Qin Xiang family, was one of the candidates who wanted to compete with the princess for the throne.
Now the court is in turmoil, and outsiders don’t know who will be the emperor in the end.
Having said that, since the lady was able to conquer the country and create a prosperous dynasty, and was no less capable than a man as an emperor, it proved that girls were also capable of great things and produced outstanding people. Therefore, the Great Sheng Dynasty did not have strict restrictions on men and women, and even had an open-minded atmosphere.
With the upper class following suit, the phenomenon of mistreating and despising wives among the people has been decreasing since the founding of the country. When a family sees a daughter with extraordinary talent and learning, they will also find ways to cultivate her carefully.
This is because after the two empresses came to power, the court promoted many talented women, and there were also many female officials in the court. Therefore, it was not surprising that there were female village chiefs like Village Chief Wu among the people. As for Gu Ran, a single woman, she naturally looked much more ordinary.
However, the history of the Great Sheng Dynasty was short after all, and its influence was limited. In particular, many official families still had prejudices. After the current Emperor Sejong came to power, this enlightened atmosphere was also invisibly suppressed at different levels.
After traveling for a distance on the water, the boat gradually approached the island where the two rivers collided. The boatman rowed significantly faster, wanting to cross this area as quickly as possible.
When he came across a lush island forest, Gu Ran saw the island separated from the mainland by a river more than tens of meters wide.
At this time, Village Chief Wu pointed to the land on the side of the river and said, "See? This is the island forest. In the past, it was our Xiaxi Village."
Gu Ran looked over.
It turns out that the end of the Dayu Forest is the riverside, and the island opposite the Dayu Forest is called Dunzi Island, according to Village Chief Wu.
Like Dunzi Island, there are four or five islands in this area, some large and some small, formed at the confluence of two rivers, where the land is broken and the river flows bring river sand and silt over the years.
While Gu Ran was taking a closer look at Dunzi Island, the boatman quickly rowed the boat across this broken island.
According to the boatmen traveling on the river, the current is turbulent at the confluence of the two rivers, so they have to be careful. In addition, the islands on these waterways, including a large area of islet forest, are sparsely populated areas. Miasma leaks out from time to time, and no one dares to go to the island easily. Once the boatmen arrive at this place, they have to row as fast as they can.
If the wind direction is unfavorable and you see miasma coming out and drifting to the riverside, you have to wait for the miasma to pass or dissipate before you can cross, which will take longer than usual.
After passing this island, the waterway became calm. Gu Ran and Village Chief Wu got off the boat steadily and stepped onto the Yongchang County Wharf.
Yesterday I was a prisoner in Yongchang County, but today I returned as a citizen of Yongchang County.
Gu Ran was just about to take a closer look when the village chief Wu next to her told her which place in the county town was the market and which was the commercial street, and asked her to go to the corresponding place if she wanted to buy something.
"I have to go to the county government office soon. You bought a lot of things, and if you can't carry them, you can hire a porter to help carry them to the port," said Village Chief Wu. "If you need help, you can also wait for me at the dock. When I finish my errand, I will go back with you."
"Thank you, Village Chief. However, I see that many things can be bought in Donglin Township, so I don't plan to buy much in this county town. I can carry it all back by myself." Gu Ran smiled, "Village Chief, go ahead and do your work. I won't bother you anymore."
Village Chief Wu glanced at Gu Ran and left. Gu Ran started strolling around the market near the pier.
Yongchang County is a prosperous county town with many stalls and a wide range of goods for sale in the market. It attracts a large number of customers and merchants. Compared with Donglin Township, it is much larger in scale.
Gu Ran watched the fun, but actually didn't dare to spend money recklessly.
According to the budget, she had to buy the staple food first so that she would have money left to consider other things.
Food, clothing, housing and transportation. Food, clothing, housing and transportation. You have housing, and you already know how to travel. The only things left are food and clothing.
For clothing, one needs to buy a new mat, tent, and summer quilt. For clothes, one needs to buy at least three sets of clothes, two pairs of cloth shoes, as well as handkerchiefs, needles and thread, etc.
Although she doesn't know how to sew, she still has to mend a hole in her clothes herself, right?
Because she couldn't sew, she had to buy ready-made summer quilts and clothes. This naturally cost much more than making them herself. To save money, she asked the shopkeeper for a discount and simply bought everything she needed at a Sihai Cloth Shop.
One bill: one hundred and twenty coins.
A summer quilt: sixty coins.
Three sets of clothes: 246 coins
Two pairs of cloth shoes: eighty coins.
The total cost of the handkerchief, sewing kit, etc. was fifteen cents.
I spent half a tael of silver in one go, and the money is really not enough to spend.
The shopkeeper saw that Gu Ran bought a lot, so he gave her a small mirror, some scraps of cloth and a hairband as gifts.
After leaving the cloth shop, Gu Ran realized that she had bought too many things and they didn't fit on her body. She had to buy other things. What should she do?
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