Chapter 479 Little Radish Head
Since the caravans started arriving in the spring, Zhao Tingduo has been patrolling outside every five days.
Although he could arrange for other people around him to do these things, he just needed to stay comfortably in the city.
But the future of Mida City is important. It is at the beginning of its construction. The greater its reputation, the greater the risk. He has to lead the team personally to feel at ease.
But this time, they met the Wanjia caravan after only three days, so they escorted the caravan back.
In the tea room in the front yard of the City Lord's Mansion, Song Liyun met an acquaintance whom she had not seen for a long time.
"Uncle Wan!"
Song Liyun smiled happily.
The person who came turned out to be the one who had gone to the capital for more than a year with ten thousand taels of gold.
In the past, Manager Wan and Song Liyun had been friends since they started smuggling furs, and now they have also cooperated with a luxury luggage shop, so they have long been on the same page.
Later, Manager Wan introduced Wan Yanming, who was in charge of his own business in Southeast Road, to help Song Liyun open up sales channels for ox horn products and wool, which made the Wan family qualified to enter Mida City.
After the deal was finalized, Manager Wan went to the capital to discuss the expansion of the luggage business with his relatives in the capital.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Song Liyun arrived in Mida City, Manager Wan also followed.
After not seeing each other for a year and traveling long distances, Manager Wan has lost a lot of weight, but he is still energetic and full of vigor.
As soon as he saw Song Liyun, he bowed and saluted: "Wan Mou greets the young lady. I was away before and was too busy to come in person to attend the wedding of the young lady and the young master. Please forgive me, young lady!"
Before Song Liyun's wedding, the Wan family sent gifts in advance. What Manager Wan said at this time was simply that they did not go to the Wuda tribe to watch the ceremony.
Song Liyun didn't care about these things at all. She smiled and said, "Uncle Wan, why bother being so formal? The headgear you gave me is already very expensive!"
Zhao Tingduo also said, "Manager Wan, you're welcome. The ox horns sold by the Wan Family Trading Company have already solved the difficulties faced by our tribe. I am deeply grateful."
There are as many cow horns as there are cow hides in the tribe.
Although there are cowhide products, they require skilled craftsmen, and ordinary people have little use for cow horns.
However, Wan Jia and Lin Qingyuan ground piles of cow horns into horn combs and pendants, which were sold to the Wu Dynasty and were in short supply.
The Wuda tribe collected cow and sheep horns from other tribes, turned them into treasures, and actually sold them for a thousand taels of silver.
Being thanked in this way by the City Lord of Mida, even though Manager Wan was calm and composed, he could not hide the pride on his face.
The Wuda tribe earned a thousand taels of silver, and the Wan family would earn even more.
When the accounts were being collected at the end of the year, the bright numbers on his book made the other families very envious.
The three of them exchanged a few polite words before finally getting down to business.
Steward Wan said, "Young Madam, you once asked us to buy you some available servants. A year has passed, and I finally found some, and I'm bringing them to you this time!"
Song Liyun asked in surprise, "Did you bring any? How many are there? What are their skills?"
Before she got married, she once asked Manager Wan to help her buy a few servants who had skills and could farm.
This kind of person is hard to come by. She forgot about it after she said it. She didn't expect that Manager Wan would actually bring him all the way to Mida City.
When Song Liyun asked how many there were and what skills they had, Manager Wan felt a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and said, "They are all children. They don't know any skills!"
"Ah?" Song Liyun was puzzled. What she wanted was a craftsman, so why would a child be sent instead?
When she saw a bunch of little radishes being led in, she was stunned.
Twenty children, big and small, were standing in the front yard.
The oldest one is eight or nine years old, and the youngest is only five years old. Although they are disheveled after the long journey, you can still see that they have delicate features. They are all beautiful little babies.
Song Liyun looked at the children staring at her timidly and asked, "What are your names? Who else is in your family?"
No one spoke.
Song Liyun pointed at the oldest boy and said, "What's your name and how old are you? Come out and speak!"
The boy bit his lip and walked out of the crowd, kneeling on the ground and answering: "Madam, my name is Wang Ti, I'm ten years old, because my family suffered a disaster and had no food, so I was sold..."
His voice was choked and tears welled up in his eyes. His grandparents at home were sick from the cold, so he and his sister were replaced with charcoal.
When Song Liyun heard about the disaster, she nodded and did not ask any more questions. She just asked Di Nushayi to take the children to the dining hall to eat something first, and then to the big bathhouse to wash.
If there are any problems, Manager Wan will explain, and Song Liyun also has to listen to why he sent these children who are considered a burden.
After the children left, Manager Wan told the story in detail.
It turned out that these children were sent by Wan Yanming from Southeast Road.
The winter in Southeast Road is not too cold. The coldest month is only a month with little snow and a lot of rain, which can be easily managed. Therefore, every family prepares a small amount of firewood to survive the winter.
But last year, there was a continuous winter rain, and hundreds of thousands of people were shrouded in heavy rain for several months. Not only were the firewood piles soaked, but there was not even a dry branch in the forest to start a fire.
Families with better financial conditions would spend money to buy charcoal, while those without money would just hide in bed as a family.
There was no fire to warm myself, and no hot soup to drink.
The stove was cold, the toilet was leaking, and even the beds and bedding were wet. In the cold rain and wind, the elderly and children kept falling ill.
The roads were muddy and transportation was difficult. The price of charcoal soared, far exceeding the price of food. Life was difficult both in the city and in the countryside.
Food is no longer the most important thing, heating is the key.
The practice of exchanging people for charcoal came into being. A boy could be exchanged for 300 kilograms of charcoal, while a girl could only be exchanged for 200 kilograms.
The charcoal these children exchanged was enough for the family to have hot water and cook rice porridge until spring.
The Wan family had another reason for choosing these children for Song Liyun.
Manager Wan said, "Young Madam, truly wealthy families don't often buy servants. Most of the servants they employ are their own children. Masters and servants have been together since childhood and have a deep bond. They won't betray their master."
Although these children are still young, as long as the young lady cultivates their feelings from a young age, they will become the lady’s most reliable assistants.”
The Wan family is a large family with businesses spread across the north and south. In order to run such a large business, it is necessary to have branches from various departments.
Most of the guys are family-born, and their loyalty is far superior to those hired from outside.
Song Liyun has a shallow foundation, and the only people she can use now are the elders in her old family and the people of the Wuda tribe.
They seem to be getting along harmoniously now, but if there are any changes, it is hard to say how much selfishness there is.
Although these children cannot help much for the time being, it will only take two years for them to fully adapt to life on the grassland, no longer be homesick, and will stick closely to Song Liyun, the only master of the Wu Dynasty.
This is truly for her own good. Song Liyun said to Manager Wan: "Uncle Wan has made far-reaching plans for Liyun. Liyun is extremely grateful!"
Manager Wan laughed and said, "If you want to thank me, why not give all the wool business rights to my Wan family?"
Song Liyun smiled. As expected, as a businessman, he would always ask for some interest in return for his investment.
But don't we already have this wool? Why do we need it again?
She wondered, "Mr. Wan has already taken the wool, so why does Uncle Wan still want the management rights?"
In addition to the wool used to weave carpets from the Wuda tribe, Wan Yanming also brought more than a thousand kilograms of wool to the southeast road.
Why does Manager Wan want more operating rights now? That would basically be a monopoly, which is not what Song Liyun wants to see.
Manager Wan opened a wooden box and took out two pieces of cloth, each one foot square.
"Young Madam, what do you think of this?"
Song Liyun took it and it felt like coarse cloth, thick and slightly hard.
The other one is thin, soft and skin-friendly.
"Is this woolen cloth?"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com