Since the spring, caravans began to arrive one after another, and Zhao Tingduo would patrol outside every five days.
Although he can arrange for others around him to do these things, he only needs to stay comfortably in the city.
But the future of Mida City is important. It is now in the early stages of construction. The greater the reputation, the greater the risk. He has to personally lead the team to feel at ease.
Only this time I met thousands of caravans after only three days out, so I escorted the caravan back.
In the tea room in the front yard of the City Lord's Mansion, Song Liyun saw an acquaintance whom he had not seen for a long time.
"Uncle Wan!"
Song Liyun smiled happily.
The visitor turned out to be a man worth ten thousand taels of gold who had been to the capital for more than a year.
In the past, Manager Wan and Song Liyun had been friends since smuggling leather goods, and they had cooperated with a luxury leather suitcase shop. They had long been a grasshopper on a rope.
Later, Manager Wan introduced Wan Yanming, who was managing his own business on Southeast Road, to open up the horn products and wool sales for Song Liyun. Only then did the Wan family qualify to enter Mida City.
After settling on the deal, Manager Wan went to the capital to discuss the luggage expansion with his family in the capital.
Unexpectedly, Song Liyun had just arrived in Mida City, and Manager Wan also followed him.
After not seeing each other for a year and traveling long distances, Wan Guanshi has lost a lot of weight, but he is full of energy and high spirits.
As soon as he saw Song Liyun, he raised his hands and saluted: "Wan has met the young madam. Wan was away before and was too busy to come over in person to attend the wedding of the young madam and the young master. I must apologize to the young madam!"
Before Song Liyun's wedding, the Wan family had given gifts in advance. What Wan Guanshi said at this time was simply that he did not go to the Wuda tribe to watch the ceremony.
Song Liyun couldn't care less about this, and said with a smile: "Uncle Wan, why do you need to see me outside? The set of face you gave me is already quite expensive!"
Zhao Tingduo also said: "You're welcome, Manager Wan. The horns sold by Wanjia Trading Company have solved the plight of this tribe. I can't thank you enough."
There are as many horns as there are cow hides in the tribe.
Although there are also cowhide products, they require skilled craftsmen, and ordinary people have little use for cowhide horns.
But Wan Jia and Lin Qingyuan ground piles of horns into horn combs and ornaments, which were sold as far away as the Wu Dynasty, and demand exceeded supply.
The Uda tribe collected horns from other tribes and turned them into treasures, selling them for a thousand taels of silver.
Being thanked like this by the Lord of Mida City, even though Wan Guanshi 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 earned even more.
When the accounting books were drawn up at the end of the year, the figures in his book were very envious and envious by the other households.
The three of them exchanged a few polite words and finally got down to business.
Manager Wan said: "Young madam, you have said before that we can buy some available servants for you. After a year, I finally found them and brought them to you this time!"
Song Liyun said in surprise: "Bring them? How many are there, and what skills do they have?"
Before she got married, during a chat with Manager Wan, she said that she would help buy some servants who were skilled in farming.
This kind of person is rare. She said it and forgot about it. She didn't expect that Wan Guanshi would actually come all the way to Mida City.
Hearing Song Liyun ask how many of them were there and what kind of crafts they knew, Manager Wan felt a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and said, "They are all kids and they don't know any craftsmanship!"
"Ah?" Song Liyun was puzzled. What she wanted was a craftsman, so why would she send a child?
When she saw a bunch of little carrot heads being led in one after another, she was dumbfounded.
In the front yard, there were twenty children, large and small, standing.
The older one is eight or nine years old, and the younger one is only five years old. Although they are not unkempt after the long journey, their hair is disheveled and they are very thin.
Song Liyun looked at these children who were staring at him timidly and asked, "What are your names? Who else is there in the 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, knelt on the ground and replied: "Back to Madam, the younger one is called Xiaoba. He is eight years old. Because his family suffered a disaster, he had nothing to eat and 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, he nodded and didn't ask any more questions. He only asked Shayi, Di's daughter, to take the children to the dining hall to eat something first, and then go to the big bath to wash themselves off.
If there is any problem, Manager Wan will explain it, and Song Liyun will also have to listen to why he sent these children who are considered burdensome.
After the children left, Wan Guangshi went into detail.
It turned out that these children were sent by Wan Yanming from Southeast Road.
The winter on Southeast Road is not too cold originally. The coldest is only one month, with less snow and more rain, but it passes in a hurry, so each family prepares a small amount of firewood to survive the winter.
But last year, there was a heavy winter rain, and hundreds of thousands of people were covered in torrential rain for several months. Not only were the firewood piles soaked, but there was not even a dry branch in the forest to light a fire.
If the family is a little better off, they spend money to buy charcoal. If they have no money, the family hides in bed.
There is no fire to keep warm, and there is no hot soup to drink.
The pots and stoves were cold, the latrines were leaking, and even the beds and quilts were wet. In the miserable rain and cold wind, the elderly and children kept getting sick.
The roads are muddy and the transportation process is difficult. The price of charcoal has soared, far exceeding that of food. Life in the city and in the countryside is very difficult.
Food is no longer the most important thing, heating is the key.
The idea of using people to exchange charcoal came into being. A boy could exchange for 300 kilograms of charcoal, while a girl could only exchange for 200 kilograms of charcoal.
With the charcoal exchanged by these children, the family can drink hot water and cook some rice porridge until spring.
There is another reason why the Wan family chose these children for Song Liyun.
Wan Guanshi said: "Young madam, really wealthy families don't often buy people. The most common ones are the children of the family. The master and the servant have been together since they were young. They have deep feelings and will not betray their master.
Although these children are young now, as long as the young lady cultivates affection from an early age, they will be her most reliable assistant."
The Wan family is a big family, with business spread all over the north and south. If you want to run such a large situation, you have to branch out from each house.
Most of the guys are home-born, and their loyalty far exceeds that of those hired from outside.
Song Liyun has a shallow foundation, and the only people he can use now are the elders of his old family and the people of the Wuda tribe.
It seems to be harmonious now, but if there are any changes, it's hard to say how selfish it is.
Although these children can't be of much help for the time being, it only takes two years for them to fully adapt to life on the grassland, no longer be attached to home, and will be firmly attached to Song Liyun, the only master of the Wu Dynasty.
This was really for his own benefit. Song Liyun said to Manager Wan: "Uncle Wan has made far-reaching plans for Liyun. Liyun is extremely grateful!"
Manager Wan chuckled: "If you want to thank me, you might as well give me all the rights to run the wool business, Wanjia!"
Song Liyun smiled, he was indeed a businessman, and if he paid anything, he would always get some interest back.
But don’t you already have this wool? Why do you still need it?
She wondered: "Master Wan has already taken the wool, so why does Uncle Wan still need the management rights?"
The wool she can now control is excluding the Uda tribe's woolen threads for weaving carpets. Wan Yanming took more than a thousand kilograms to Southeast Road.
Why does Wan Guanshi want more management rights now? It is basically a monopoly. This is not what Song Liyun wants to see.
Manager Wan opened a wooden box and took out two pieces of fabric one foot square.
"Young Madam, what do you think of this?"
Song Liyun took it, and it was like a piece of coarse cloth, thick and slightly hard.