Liu Ting's home is in Xunan Village, which is only two miles away from Jili Village. Liu Yong first went to visit Liu Ting's home in Xunnan. Liu Ting's parents, wife and children were all at home. Liu Yong greeted them and presented the gifts he had brought. , and told them that everything was fine with Liu Ting in Shanghai, so that they could rest assured and not have to worry.
Liu Ting's mother insisted on keeping Liu Yong at home for dinner, but Liu Yong couldn't resist her kindness, so she had to have a few drinks with Liu Ting's father.
According to the family arrangement, Liu Yong and Liu Ting have the same great-grandfather. Liu Yong's father and Liu Ting's father are cousins. Liu Ting's father is the third eldest, so everyone calls him the third uncle. The third uncle opened a cigarette paper shop in Xunnan Village, and now His son Liu Qing followed Liu Yong to work at Liu Hengshun Silk Shop, and he saved some money and lived a relatively prosperous life.
The third uncle sighed: Ah Yong, when your father left, I happened to be sick, so I couldn't go to see him off. After all, we were brothers. Thinking of this made me panic.
Liu Yong comforted him and said: In these troubled times, it is a great blessing for my father to die in his hometown and be buried in his ancestral grave.
The third uncle said: Who can say otherwise? Many people are not so lucky. The world is in chaos. I don’t know if I can see a peaceful life.
After coming out of Liu Ting's house, Liu Yong hurried to Song's house in Jili Village with his luggage on his back. Standing at the door of Song's house, he was filled with emotion. He had met Song Hongsheng's family and Hong Ying because of the silk shop's order from the cocoon farmer. Unexpectedly, the Song family became his in-law family. Unfortunately, it was like a flash in the pan, and Hong Ying disappeared. God bless, I hope I can see her here later. If she is here, I will kill her even if she is tied up. Tie him back, and I will take on the big responsibility.
Countryside people do not have the habit of closing doors in broad daylight. The door of the Song family was open, and Liu Yong walked straight in.
Hong Ying's mother was peeling silk floss at home alone. When she saw Liu Yong, she stood up in surprise and said: Ah, the son-in-law is here? Where is Hong Ying? Why doesn't she come back with you?
When Liu Yong heard this, his heart dropped. He originally thought that Hong Ying had nowhere to go and had to come back to her parents' home in Jili Village. Unexpectedly, she didn't come. She deliberately hid far away to prevent others from finding her. she.
Liu Yong didn't dare to mention Hong Ying again, and went on to say: The children can't live without her, and the road is not peaceful, so they can't come with her. He took out the foreign cloth and candy and said: Mother, this is what Hong Ying asked me to do. I brought it to you, the foreign cloth to make clothes for you and my sister-in-law, and the candy to satisfy the children's craving."
Hong Yingniang accepted the gift without raising any suspicion. She happily made tea for Liu Yong. Then she asked: "You haven't gone to the town yet, have you? I advise you not to go, it's very chaotic. The officers and soldiers of the imperial court have been there a few days ago." Nanxun was liberated, but only three days later, the "Lance" came back again. Several men in the town were anxious. Seeing that Nanxun was recovered, they hurriedly shaved their heads. When the "Lance" came back, guess what? ?He was taken out and beheaded.
Liu Yong touched his head and felt a chill on his neck.
Hong Yingnong glanced at Liu Yong and said: You have such hair, you can't go to the town. Now King Du is like crazy. Foreigners can come into the town, and those who have shaved their heads have to be imprisoned. , close it until the hair grows out.
Liu Yong said: Don't worry, I'm not going to the town when I come back this time, but I want to discuss something with my elder brother.
Hong Sheng is one year younger than Liu Yong, but Liu Yong should follow Hong Ying and call him "big brother".
Hong Yingniang smiled and said: Hong Sheng and his wife and children went back to his grandmother's house and came back in the evening.
Liu Yong asked: What about my father-in-law?
Hong Yingniang said: He went to work in the fields and will be back soon.
Just as he was talking, Hong Ying's father came back with a hoe. When he saw Liu Yong, he said cheerfully: The magpies were chirping in the tree in front of the door early in the morning. It turns out that a distinguished guest has arrived.
Hong Ying's father looked around and asked: Where is Hong Ying? Why don't you see her?
Hong Yingniang said: My daughter has not come back.
Hong Ying's father said angrily: You girls, after you have your husband's family, you forget about your mother's family, and you don't know that we are thinking about her.
Hong Yingniang said: "Don't talk nonsense. Every family has a scripture that is difficult to recite. Now that there are many old people and children in her family, how can she escape? If the daughter does not come, it will be different if the son-in-law comes."
When Hong Ying's father and Hong Ying's mother said this, Liu Yong felt uncomfortable. He thought: He originally thought that Hong Ying had returned to her parents' home, but now she is not there. Where did she go? Originally, she wanted to find out if the Song family had any relatives in other places.
I don’t have any relatives, so I don’t dare to open my mouth now. I have to pretend that nothing is wrong, otherwise it will cause worry to the two old people. If anything happens again, it will be even more troublesome.
Liu Yong went out and saw that the warehouses originally built for sorting soil and silk were gone and had become grain drying grounds. He asked Hong Ying's father: Dad, why have all these houses been demolished?
Hong Ying's father said: Starting from the second half of last year, the official villages set up by gambling kings no longer allowed people to roll silk in private. The Taiping Army would often go to the countryside to inspect. I was afraid of causing trouble, so I demolished the warehouse where silk was sorted.
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Liu Yong nodded: Take it apart to avoid getting into trouble.
Father Hong Ying said: "However, the situation has changed this year. King Du's official village has been withdrawn, and the Taiping Army has not come to the countryside. So this season, everyone has shaken the silkworms and stored them at home. Now they are all eager to sell them."
But if you silk merchants don't come back, there's nothing we can do.
Liu Yong stared at Hong Ying's father and said: I came back this time just to discuss with Brother Hong Sheng whether there is a way to transport all the soil and silk to Shanghai.
Hong Ying's father said with excited eyes: Now every family has earthen silk. If we can really transport the earthen silk, that would be great. I am old and can't think of any way. When Hong Sheng comes back, you can discuss it.
…
After dinner, Song Hongsheng took his wife and children home.
Knowing that Liu Yong was here to discuss the matter of native silk, Hong Sheng went to the village and called several young adults to join the discussion.
Hong Sheng introduced: This is Johnson and Johnson, this is Bacon, the eldest son of our neighbor Uncle Ren's family, and this is Bacon's cousin Peifa.
The three young men all bowed their hands to Liu Yong and said: Hello, Boss Liu!
Hong Sheng smiled and said: You all know my brother-in-law Liu Yong, so I won’t go into details.
Liu Yong raised his hands to the three young people and said: Hello everyone! Liu Yong is so polite!
Johnson took the lead and said: "I heard from Hong Sheng that Boss Liu wants to transport all the local silk from the village to Shanghai. I was very happy when I heard it. My father told me to help Boss Liu accomplish this."
Bacon echoed: The native silk cannot be sold, and life is difficult. Who in the village is not worried? Boss Liu, if there is a place where I can be used, I will obey your orders.
Peifa patted his chest and said: Yes, yes, we all listen to you, just tell us what to do!
Liu Yong quickly stood up and cupped his hands and said: Thank you for your willingness to help, but I am very ashamed and I have not come up with any ideas, so I invite you to discuss it together.
Hong Sheng also said: As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang. Let's think about how to transport the soil and silk out.
Liu Yong said: Brother Hong Sheng is right, if everyone has some ideas, maybe there will be a solution.
Pei Fa was the first to come up with an idea: I have an idea. Now from Nanxun to Shanghai, there are checkpoints of the Taiping Army on both water and land routes. If you want to transport soil and silk out, you must be inspected. There are long hair in the town.
For private sales of roads, if the price is higher, freight roads may also be available.
Liu Yong looked at Zu He suspiciously, only to see Zu He shake his head and say: I'm afraid this plan is inappropriate! There are indeed 'lances' in the town who sell roads privately against the order, but once they are found, the 'lances' that violate the order will
'They would all be tortured, so they only dared to sell some insignificant routes, such as freight routes for transporting raw silk, which they would never dare to sell privately.
Liu Yong then said: Yes, it is best not to deal with the Taiping Army.
Everyone was chatting animatedly, but Johnson remained silent.
Liu Yong asked: Brother Johnson and Johnson, do you have any ideas?
Johnson frowned and said: "I'm thinking, although there are long-haired checkpoints on both water and land routes, they are not always full of people along the way. There are always some gaps."
Everyone was confused about what Johnson meant. Only Liu Yong patted his thigh and said: I understand what you mean.
Liu Yong continued: The Taiping Army set up blockades on the main roads. All they have to do is avoid the Taiping Army's blocks. I have a friend, Boss Guo, who specializes in canal transportation. He is familiar with waterways.
Johnson also said: I have a friend who specializes in transporting salt to Shanghai. He knows all the checkpoints on the land. In this way, if the water is not working, change to land, and if the land is not working, water should be changed to water. A two-pronged approach to avoid jams.
When Liu Yong heard this, he said happily: What do you mean, the checkpoints on the land route are far away from the checkpoints on the waterway. We can take a section of the waterway, then a section of the land route, and then return to the waterway. Repeat this several times to avoid the checkpoints?
Everyone suddenly realized it and agreed that it was feasible.
Everyone was overjoyed, and Hong Sheng clapped his hands and said: Great! Once everyone has been contacted, we can make a trial trip first to ensure everything is safe.
Liu Yong then assigned tasks. Hong Sheng and Qiang Sheng were responsible for organizing the donkey cart drivers in the village to form a transportation team. Bacon and Peifa went from door to door to notify the silkworm farmers to pack the soil silk into square bags for easy transportation.
After all the calculations, even at the fastest speed, it would take half a month to set sail.
Time waits for no one, so Liu Yong hurried back to Shanghai early the next morning. This chapter has been completed!