As the New Year approaches, country roads that rarely see pedestrians are also crowded with people, and market towns everywhere are full of hawkers. Reading in 88, 23o
New Year paintings, Spring Festival couplets and firecrackers are best-selling items, and they are sold to the most people.
The most popular ones are the various meat stalls. As long as the family is not too poor to open the pot, they will buy some meat at home for the whole family to eat during the New Year.
In Lingqiu, almost every household can afford to buy meat. As long as you are not lazy, there is always work here in Lingqiu, whether it is working as a blacksmith apprentice, going to Dongshan as a miner, or going to Zhuangzi as a sharecropper, or even becoming a member of the Tiger Flag. Soldier, the family will never go hungry.
During the Chinese New Year last year, there were many poor families in Lingqiu who could only buy one or two kilograms of white flour and a few taels of the cheapest meat to make dumplings. During the Chinese New Year this year, almost every family had to buy several kilograms of meat. It is not uncommon to buy more than ten kilograms.
The meat sold by the local butcher in Lingqiu was not enough, so he had to go to surrounding counties to buy pigs, sheep and some poultry, and bring them back to be slaughtered and sold. It was a happy worry.
"You have heard what Governor Liu sent someone to tell you. What do you think?"
Liu Heng was sitting in the signing room where he usually dealt with things, holding a large teapot in his hand, and occasionally flipping the roasted sweet potatoes on the stove lid with his other hand.
Zhao Yutu said, "Xu Tong has long expected to deal with us, but I didn't expect him to be so anxious and want to deal with us as soon as he took office."
"Look at this. This is information obtained from Taiyuan by the Intelligence Department. It's all about Xu Tong."
Liu Heng turned around and picked up a document from the desk at the back and handed it to Zhao Yutu.
Zhao Yutu took it in his hand and flipped through the pages.
After about a quarter of an hour, he closed the document and said, "This Xu Tong is really greedy. All the unestablished business houses in Taiyuan have been robbed by him by various means. Now that he has been promoted to the governor of Datong, some of our business houses in Datong may be You have to be targeted by him. Study in eighty-eight years, o"
Liu Heng said, "With this person's behavior, even if there is no incident with Xu Youcai, our tiger character flag is still a piece of fat in his eyes, and sooner or later he will pounce on him and take a bite."
"He is the governor, and all of us in the Tiger Flag are white. It is not easy to deal with him." Zhao Yutu looked worried.
Liu Heng said in a relaxed tone, "Soldiers will cover up the water and the earth. The governor is not without his weaknesses. In Datong, he can't cover the sky with one hand. As long as we keep losing money, Mr. Zhang will not help him."
The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes in the room penetrated his nostrils. Liu Heng put down the big tea vat and reached out to grab the sweet potatoes on the stove lid. His hands were so hot that he had to turn the sweet potatoes back and forth.
Zhao Yutu said in a deep voice, "On the grassland, we and the Fanji Chamber of Commerce have no outcome. As time goes by, I'm worried that Mr. Zhang will be dissatisfied."
"Things on the grassland will not be delayed for too long. Now Fanji Chamber of Commerce can't sell anything to Taiji and herdsmen on the grassland. If Fan Yongdou can't think of a way to solve it, the Beibei will turn to us."
The roasted sweet potato in his hand could barely be pinched. Liu Heng broke off a piece from the middle and handed it to Zhao Yutu who was standing aside.
Zhao Yutu took it and took a bite. While chewing it in his mouth, he said, "This thing tastes better after being roasted. It's fragrant and sweet."
"This thing can save lives at critical times." Liu Heng took a bite of a sweet potato and said, "Find more experienced farmers to study how to increase food production. Although the yield of the sweet potatoes we grow now is not low, if we find the right ones, With better planting methods, the yield can be even higher.”
The yield of sweet potatoes grown by Huzi Banner is higher than that of other crops, but it is far from reaching the level of later generations, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Zhao Yutu nodded and said, "We have found many experienced farmers, and the experimental fields have been divided. Every day they are studying how to increase food production. They will not only plant sweet potatoes, but also other food."
"Only when you have a full stomach, the people below will have peace of mind." Liu Heng finished the last bite of sweet potato and said, "Before the New Year, I sent all the Zhi Jing from all over Datong. No one should be missing. We want to make Datong Weaving a big net, as long as the smuggling of grasslands continues, even if these people don't help us deal with Xu Tong, they will not stand on Xu Tong's side, and no one will have a grudge against Qianzi."
Zhao Yutu said, "Zhi Jing's silver has been prepared and will be sent to various places in the next two days. Do you want Xu Tong to prepare a copy?"
"No need." Liu Heng said, "He won't let us go without our respect, so don't waste this time."
Zhao Yutu nodded and ate the last bit of roasted sweet potato in his hand.
The end of the year is the busiest time, and a lot of documents are sent from everywhere. Although the attendants share part of it, there are still many important documents sent to Liu Heng's desk.
Zhao Yutu left from the signing room without disturbing him for too long.
It was almost noon, and Zhao Wu returned to the signing room with a big tea vat in his hand.
“Pork and potato stew.”
Liu Heng raised his head, looked at the big tea vat in Zhao Wu's hand, and shrugged his nose vigorously.
Zhao Wu placed the big tea vat on the table in front of Liu Heng, picked up the tea cup, poured a cup of hot water and brought it over.
Since I started planting potatoes under the Tiger Flag, I have harvested a lot in a few months. Except for some that are kept as seeds, the rest are used for food. In the winter, there are no vegetables to eat, so potatoes greatly enrich the dining table.
Pork Vermicelli Stewed with Potatoes is a delicious dish that satisfies hunger and is loved by everyone as soon as it appears.
It's just that the quantity of potatoes is limited, so you can't eat them freely. You can only eat them once in a while, and most of the time they are used in stews.
Liu Heng picked up the spoon and took a spoonful of vegetables. He was about to eat it when he put it down. He raised his head and said to Zhao Wu, "Inform the Datong Intelligence Department to keep an eye on Xu Tong. If there is any movement in the governor's Yamen, you must report it immediately."
"Yes, I will inform Huang Hong immediately." Zhao Wu agreed.
Huang Hong is Yang Yuan's deputy. Ever since Chen Daqing took charge of the Intelligence Bureau, Huang Hong has been working beside Yang Yuan.
Because of the matter of opening a large car dealership, Yang Yuan has left Lingqiu, and the person who stayed in Lingqiu to take care of him was Huang Hong.
As Zhao Wu left the detention room, Liu Heng concentrated on eating the food in the big tea vat.
"Sir, a young man came from outside the house. He said he was your nephew and was clamoring to see you."
A servant of the Xu Mansion came to Xu Tong to report.
"My nephew" Xu Tong frowned.
The concubine who was kneading him next to him said, "Master, didn't you mention before that you have relatives in Lingqiu? It's the New Year. I guess I knew that master you were going to Datong to be the governor, so you came here with a gift." ”
"Are there any people from the Xu family in Lingqiu who are still alive?" Xu Tong frowned and said, and then asked the servant, "Where is the gift list? Bring it up for me to take a look at."
"There is no gift list." The servant shook his head.
"Come empty-handed" Xu Tong's tone was obviously a little higher.
The servant said, "I see that young man looks poor and does not look like a rich man."
"See you or not, cats and dogs are coming to my house. From now on, people like this will be kicked out directly." Xu Tong waved his hand impatiently.
"Yes, I will drive them away now, little one." The servant agreed, bowed and left.
"etc"
When the servant was about to leave the room, Xu Tong suddenly stopped him.
"Master, do you have any other orders?" the servant said respectfully.
Xu Tong thought for a while and said, "This person is still of some use. Let's arrange it in your servant's yard first." 11
