Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 376 Silk and Cloth
If they were walking underneath the cup when it was dropped, wouldn't they be in trouble?
At the first moment, Zhang Shou's first reaction was this thought. But when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't help but laugh secretly. Not to mention Ah Liu was beside him, there was also Cao Wu who was quite famous in Cangzhou. Not to mention throwing a cup, even if he threw a knife, they would definitely catch it. But how unlucky and innocent was this passerby?
It didn't matter if people hated him or Zhu Ying, but this behavior was simply asshole! He hated assholes like this who threw objects from high places and hurt people the most!
Zhang Shou saw that the entire Jile Street seemed as if nothing had happened. Cars and horses were still flowing, passers-by were walking on their own ways as usual, shop assistants on both sides were soliciting customers, hawking their wares, and watching the fun... In short, only the unlucky passerby who was busy bandaging his wounds but only dared to curse in a low voice seemed to be selectively ignored by everyone.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and winked at Ah Liu. Seeing that the young man immediately went up to check the injuries of the unlucky guy, he turned his head to glance at Cao Wu.
Cao Wu certainly knew what Zhang Shou meant by that look. In fact, at this moment, he regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. Considering that it would be a big loss if the other party had a bad impression of him, he could only humbly say: "Master Zhang, I just accidentally learned that the son of the Hejian prefect returned to Cangzhou in a mess the day before yesterday, so I privately asked if anyone had a grudge against the Zhu family, so..."
Zhang Shou almost wanted to shed a handful of sympathy tears for the Hejian prefect... Raising such a bad son, he would be a burden no matter how high his position was! Beaten by Zhu Ying, he ran to Cangzhou to catch the Zhu family? Don't you think that Zhu Tingfang, the killer, is now an imperial envoy! You must know that Zhu Ying was scolded by this elder brother before, and he should be taken to the government office to be beaten!
But according to Zhu Tingfang's temper and methods, would he leave such a young man who jumps up and down but is ignorant of the world alone? It would be strange to say that Zhu Tingfang didn't know that this person is now in Cangzhou City! Maybe the future brother-in-law is playing the long game to catch a big fish2...
Zhang Shou was a man who never waited to get revenge, so he initially planned to ask Ah Liu to go upstairs and grab the damned young man and punish him for the crime of wounding others, but he changed his mind at this moment. Seeing Ah Liu had hurried back and whispered a few words in his ear, he nodded and said to Cao Wu, who looked very nervous, "Okay, let's go!"
Cao Wu had not expected Zhang Shou to come into direct conflict with the son of the Hejian prefect, but the scene of the cup being smashed from a high altitude just now really frightened him, and he was afraid that Zhang Shou would take his anger out on him after his outburst.
So, since Zhang Shou was willing to give up, how could he be unwilling? He immediately agreed, forced a smile and led Zhang Shou forward . However, when passing by a famous restaurant in Cangzhou that he had already selected, he was about to introduce the special wine and food here, but Zhang Shou actually raised his hand and pointed at a silk and satin shop opposite that had not yet closed.
"It's late at night, and this Hua's Silk Shop is still open? Will anyone come to buy silk at night?"
Cao Wu was slightly startled, then when he looked up, he smiled and said, "That's the silk . All the materials are top-notch materials shipped from Suzhou. Many of them use colorful silk threads and gold and silver threads. The more it gets dark, the more colorful the colors will be. That's why it's located on Jile Street, and people often come to look at the goods at night."
Zhang Shou suddenly became interested when he remembered that Young Master Jiang had mentioned that the Jiang family and the Suzhou Hua family were relatives. Anyway, he was just taking a walk to digest his food, so he walked straight over. The young man who was looking around in front of the door was so bored that he stood up straight when he saw a customer coming, but he just smiled and didn't say anything to attract customers.
Firstly, his silk shop was positioned as such, not a small one that solicited customers. Secondly, although Zhang Shou's appearance, clothing, and gestures all seemed like he came from a wealthy family, he had worked here for three years and had never seen him before, so he must be an outsider...
It is very unlikely that a stranger would buy silk and satin when passing by Jile Street! You know, the price of Suzhou silk and embroidery in Cangzhou is at least twice as expensive as buying them in Suzhou!
Until he saw Cao Wu with a serious face behind Zhang Shou.
Although Cao Wu was not a frequent customer of this cloth shop, he was a frequent customer of Jile Street. The waiter certainly knew him, and his originally slightly reserved smile immediately turned into a warm smile.
When he heard Cao Wu addressing him in a courteous voice as "Mr. Zhang" and inviting him in, he realized that he was indeed a big customer, so he followed him in hastily. Seeing Zhang Shou standing in front of a piece of material embroidered with colorful butterflies and flowers through gold thread, he quickly went to the side and carefully took out a glass lamp.
He held the lamp and introduced it to Zhang Shou enthusiastically: "This is the unique weaving method of our Hua family. Moreover, the golden thread looks just golden and magnificent under the sun, but it seems to change color under the lamplight, so it is a colorful butterfly..."
As he spoke, he secretly observed the reactions out of the corner of his eye, and seeing that this young customer only gave a faint compliment even when faced with the store's most famous exquisitely crafted colorful satins, he felt more and more that the other party was either rich or noble. However, after showing the customer around and introducing many of the most famous materials, he heard an unexpected request.
"Do you have any ordinary cotton cloth?"
The young man was stunned for a moment, and instinctively glanced at Cao Wu. Then, he saw the head escort, who was called Wu Ye by many merchants in Jile Street, smiling and saying, "Sir, this Hua's Silk Shop only sells silk. There is a cloth shop a few steps away, but it is closed at this time of night."
After stealing a glance at Cao Wu, who kept calling Zhang Shou Master, the clerk did not slander his opponent. He said with a smile on his face, "The Renji Cloth Shop is owned by Songjiang . They sell extraordinary products. In addition to Songjiang Sansuo cloth, they also sell Wuni cloth, Jiansi cloth, and Youdun cloth for making socks. All of them are made of fine materials, light and soft, and their quality is comparable to tribute, but the price is much more expensive than local cotton cloth."
Zhang Shou exclaimed: "Oh, even though it's much more expensive, there are still people selling it? It seems that there are quite a few wealthy families in Cangzhou!"
Cao Wu's heart skipped a beat, not quite sure what Zhang Shou meant, but then he heard the clerk chuckle and say, "Cangzhou is located by the Grand Canal, and people from all over the country are traveling here. Good goods from both the south and the north will pass through here. Our family is related to the Jiang family, so we borrowed the young lady's dowry shop to open this store. Making money is secondary, and becoming famous is the primary concern."
"After all, Cangzhou produces cotton but not much silk. Our silk is unique in Cangzhou. Of course, those wealthy families will choose us first when buying silk. As for Renji... Tsk, they are not just concerned with selling at a high price, but also want to outshine Northern cloth with their quality. You know, when Cangzhou used hand-cranked spinning wheels with two spindles, they already had pedal-operated spinning wheels with four spindles. Most of their spinning and weaving are done by women, unlike here where even men do this..."
Zhang Shou didn't expect that the young man was so talkative, so he was happy to chat with him for a while. He found out that the young man was not from Cangzhou, but from Suzhou. He had relatives in Songjiang, so he could talk about the situation of Songjiang cotton cloth with great relish.
"In Songjiang, men would rather hang around the streets than work during the slack season. On the contrary, women stay at home weaving cloth almost all year round, and even girls as young as seven or eight help! In fact, if all five members of a family were to join in, they could weave a whole piece of cotton cloth in a day, and sell it to cloth collectors for at least 100 coins, which means three strings of cash a month. It's much more leisurely than farming!"
"But few men are willing to help their wives! Even the former magistrate of Shanghai County in Songjiang Prefecture said, 'Local men like to idle around and don't work!'"
As the young man spoke, he sighed, "In fact, in Cangzhou, there are many more men engaged in textile work than in Jiangnan. I heard that it was because when Emperor Taizu went to the capital to ascend the throne, he stayed in Cangzhou for half a month and urged cotton planting, leaving behind the ancestral teachings. It is said that textile work is not divided by gender, as long as you make money to support your family. So for a long time in Cangzhou, men have been spinning and women have been weaving."
"Really, it makes much more money than farming!"
Can this also be related to Emperor Taizu? Emperor Taizu, you are really busy...
Zhang Shou couldn't help but complain in his heart, but after hearing what the young man said, he felt that the image of the colleague who traveled through time suddenly became more vivid. On the contrary, he couldn't help but sigh when he thought that the Shanghai men who were said to be able to work in the hall and cook in the kitchen in later generations actually gave people the image of being idle in this era.
After thinking about it, he had been here for so long and heard a lot of interesting stories about Jiangnan. Since the cloth shop was closed at night, he looked around and asked with a smile: "Since we are here, we can't go to a mountain of treasures and return empty-handed. Pick two pieces of silk, one suitable for young girls, bright and eye-catching, the most beautiful! The other should be dignified and generous."
Ah Liu was originally leaning against the door , his whole body hidden in the shadow of the light. Hearing this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. It must be bright and beautiful, and suitable for young girls. Obviously, it is for Zhu Ying. As for the other one, it must be dignified and generous, which is probably for Wu. But...
The young man blinked his eyes and suddenly thought of a question. Is the money he brought enough? Fortunately, Zhang Shou had not yet said that he would bring a horse each for the Madam and Jiu Niang... However, he heard that the wealthy families in the capital usually pay when the money is delivered to the door, or they pay once a month. Some families even get furious when the bill is paid, and the house is turned upside down...
As Liu gradually became daydreaming, the young man was overjoyed.
He had to look after the shop every day, so of course he had never seen Zhang Shou. However, he saw the famous local master Cao Wuye accompanying him, and the other party was very interested . He heard that many escort agencies and martial arts schools headed by Cao Wuye had people working as errand boys in the third shift, and they were regular errand boys. He gradually figured out who the visitor was, so he was fully prepared to chat with him. Don't seek merit, but avoid mistakes!
But he didn't expect that the other party would give him such a big gift. If he could really make such a big deal, he would not only be able to report to the shopkeeper this month, but he might also get a large reward!
While thinking, the young man rushed to the samples, looked around for a while, and went out through the back door. After a while, he called another sturdy man, and the two of them worked together to carry a piece of cloth back. Yes, they... carried!
Zhang Shou then realized that he had just gotten excited and forgot that a piece of cloth was ten feet long, or one hundred feet, which is more than thirty meters in metric terms. Even if it was silk, the weight was considerable! Seeing the two people unfolding the silk in front of him, even without the glass lamp, the cloth still shone with colorful lights under the dim lights on the walls, and he nodded.
This was the colorful butterfly satin that he had first seen. Both the color and style were very suitable for Zhu Ying.
After approving this one, he quickly decided on another piece of royal blue material, and then ordered: "Send it to Changlu County Office tomorrow. By the way, how much are these two pieces of silk?"
Seeing that the deal was about to be done, and confirming that Zhang Shou was indeed the imperial envoy of the Changlu County Government, the clerk smiled brightly, but still pretended not to know him and said, "Mr. Zhang, these two pieces of fabric are top-notch in Suzhou. They will be sold for eight strings of cash each. If they are sent to Cangzhou by sea, the price will double. If you want them..."
Before anyone could finish their words, Zhang Shou nodded and said, "Ah Liu, give him the deposit. We'll settle the rest at the Changlu County Office tomorrow. It will be thirty-two strings of cash."
Cao Wu, who was standing by, was stunned when he saw Zhang Shou didn't bargain at all. When he saw the young man's face turned pale with fear, he cursed inwardly, "You have the heart but not the courage to steal." Why did you just quote the real price when I asked you to quote? You didn't expect that the imperial envoy didn't intend to bargain with you at all and agreed directly, right?
If your boss or the shopkeeper knew about this, he would beat you to death like a daring boy!
Thinking of selling some favors to Suzhou Hua family, he hurried forward to bargain. Finally, Zhang Shou didn't seem to care too much. When he heard that it was only 20 guan, he didn't ask about the exaggerated offer before. He nodded in approval and left the shop. He was worried that Zhang Shou would think he had brought someone into a shady shop, so he chased after him to explain a few words, but heard Zhang Shou instructing Ah Liu beside him.
"Go to the Jiang family tomorrow and ask Jiang Siyuan to come see me. I remember that Songjiang cloth was sold in the north because the court used it to pay the soldiers in the northern border towns. Among Songjiang cloths, those with high prices and high quality are naturally good, but the cheap cloth will have at least one cent more in transportation costs when it reaches the north. The cotton cloth from Cangzhou or Xingtai cannot compete. In the final analysis, everything depends on human effort."
Hearing this, Cao Wu took a deep breath. Was this an attempt to break the monopoly of Songjiang Bu in distributing military pay to the frontiers? Wait, why would he say such a thing in front of him?
