Just when the official army was in the autumn exercise at the boundary of Wuchang County, Ezhou, on the north bank of the river, the atmosphere in Xiyang City was a little special, although there was no official news, but many people knew that the imperial court was going to use troops against the Sui State. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Could it be that the movement of the autumn exercise is too big and the wind has leaked?

No, when there was no movement on Shannan's side, rumors began to spread from the distant Yecheng, after all, the large-scale mobilization of troops and horses could not be hidden, not to mention that there were no secrets in the major events of the imperial court in these years.

The general's tone may not be tight, and the soldiers below are even more open-mouthed, and the transfer of the army will definitely involve the problem of separation from the family.

So what, what's not the case these days?

Regardless of whether it is north or south, the army is about to be dispatched, and the rumors leaked out a few days in advance, which is nothing more than a question of whether those who listen to it believe it or not, or whether they attach importance to it or not.

For ordinary people, the official army has to fight, which means that they will be conscripted for military service to be sent to the battlefield to die, or they will be conscripted for military service to deliver grain and grass, and they will be so tired that they will die or live, and in addition to this, they will avoid military disasters.

But for the people of Huangzhou today, there are some other things.

The officials and soldiers want to use troops, and the current situation is naturally more tense, but although the atmosphere in Xiyang City is tense, it is for other things.

After the autumn, the large-scale use of troops must be New Year's Eve, the soldiers are out, and the cold effect should be considered in the uniforms, so winter clothes are indispensable, and the merchants in Xiyang City have now received orders.

Prepare winter clothes for the officers and soldiers in Shannan, the quantity, 10,000 pieces, this is the first batch that has been delivered, and later there was an order down, 20,000 pieces.

The proprietors and men of the cloth mills, the tailor shops, the duck farms, and the goose farms were already busy and went crazy to recruit tailors and pluckers.

Some people who don't know the truth asked, what does it have to do with making winter clothes and duck farms and goose farms?

Of course, it has a relationship, because the winter clothes made by Huangzhou merchants for the officials and soldiers have a special style, and the name is down jacket.

In this era, clothes made of bird feathers were called feathers or coats, and when they were worn, they looked like bird feathers, saying that they looked like cranes, but many people privately felt like roosters, and of course only officials or wealthy people could afford to wear them.

The down jacket in Huangzhou is generally of high quality and low price as cloth, so it was selected as the winter coat of the official army, and the price was not expensive.

What is down? Naturally, it is the reed-shaped down on the belly of ducks and geese, and the winter clothes are generally filled with cloth or cotton wool, while the down jackets are filled with down, which has an excellent warmth effect.

It stands to reason that if an adult wears a winter coat, if it is filled with down, it takes a lot, and I don't know how many ducks and geese will have to be killed, plus the fabric and the tailor's wages, the price of such a garment is probably not low.

A 50-day-old duck, the amount of down is at most about two taels, and the goose is more but not much, and the winter coat ordered by the official army is a crotch shape system, and its down amount is at least ten taels, so such a down jacket needs to pull out the down of at least five ducks.

The order for making down jackets has reached a total of 30,000 pieces, and at least 150,000 ducks or geese are needed.

Of course, because there are ponds and lakes everywhere, the demand is also very large, large-scale duck and goose farms are common in Huangzhou, with a total of more than 300,000 birds, which not only ensures the production of down, but also makes the cost of down jackets outrageously low.

Therefore, in the territory of Shannan, only Huangzhou can make high-quality and inexpensive down jackets in large quantities, and give the soldiers to protect themselves from the cold in winter.

This down jacket is not just appeared, there was already a cloth workshop last winter, using goose down, it is said to have something to do with the Yuwen manager in Xiyang City, and later many people went to the tailor shop to do it, and felt that the effect of keeping out the cold was really good.

It is rumored that the official army has also tried it out on a small scale, and the response is very good, so this year will rest assured to place an order, of course, this is also related to the head of Yuwen, the owners of various cloth shops, tailor shops, duck farms, and goose farms are almost grateful to this Yuwen Erlang.

Duck farms and goose farms began to provide meat ducks and geese, and by the way, they provided the ordnance superintendent with the feathers needed to make arrows.

Unheard of profit point, who would have thought that worthless down could be so useful!

In a corner of a duck farm outside Xiyang City, the quacking sound is endless, and countless bamboo cages contain countless ducks, all of them poking out their heads and shouting hoarsely.

More than a dozen people sat on the Hu bed, and there was an urn of hot water in front of each of them, and they were sweating profusely killing ducks and plucking duck feathers, and they were covered with the smell of ducks.

Wu Laoliu, the owner of the duck farm, is also one of them, and his son, daughter-in-law, and relatives, anyway, all the people who can be mobilized have been mobilized, in order to pull duck down and duck feathers quickly and well.

The Huangzhou Ordnance Supervisor buys feathers, which is a sum of money, and the tailor shops and cloth mills buy fluff, which is also a sum of money, and the ducks themselves can also be sold for money, anyway, they are all money.

No one has a hard time with money, the only problem is that there is a shortage of manpower, so young and old go into battle.

The down should be washed and dried, and the duck down has a smell, so it should be dried for at least a few days, try to make the taste smaller, no matter which process, someone has to do it.

There was a shortage of manpower, and Wu Laoliu, who was smiling and counting the money at home, could only play in person, after all, the tailor shop had placed an order and given a deposit, and if he couldn't deliver the goods on time, the late fee would not be a small amount.

Not to mention that this is an order from the official army, if the deadline is missed, it is not a joke for the government to pursue it.

"Ahh

With an exclamation, a duck with a bloody but not dead neck fluttered and scurried up in the yard, and a group of people hurriedly chased after it, and the scene was chaotic.

Wu Lao Liu's daughter-in-law killed the duck and cut the duck's neck but didn't kill it thoroughly, he can't blame him, after all, everyone has been killing ducks and plucking feathers for several days, and both hands have begun to disobey the call.

"Chop off the head, cut off the head, cut off the head directly!"

"Don't be stunned, continue to pluck your hair!"

"Aye, I'm hungry!"

This is the little grandson crying, only seven or eight years old, also called to pluck the hair, seeing that noon is approaching, the little one can't stand the hunger.

"Don't cry, don't cry, I'll have food in a while, take this dustpan over there to dry first."

"Owner! Someone from the tailor shop came to urge, and asked if the down was ready, waiting to use it! ”

"What about Lao Liu? Where did he die, didn't I let him load the car? ”

"Owner! The ordnance supervisor came by the way to collect the feathers, and Lao Liu was handing it over, so if he missed it, he had to transport it himself. ”

Wu Lao Liu was so busy that he stomped his feet and ran to handle the handover, and it was easy to turn back, and the youngest son ran over out of breath.

"Daddy! Cut out... Sewing shop... Over there..."

"Send it right away, send it right away!"

"No... No... Ahh

The youngest son finally eased up, and after calming down, he said, "Daddy! Zhang Dongjia of the tailor shop said that the officials and soldiers had sent new orders to Xiyang, a total of 30,000 pieces, and the share was divided by the tailor shops and cloth shops. ”

With a bang, the duck-killing knife in Wu Laoliu's hand fell to the ground, looked at his son, looked at the helpers in the yard who killed ducks and plucked their feathers, and then looked at the duck house in the distance, and was speechless for a while.

He still has the right ducks in his duck farm, but it's just a manpower...

"Yes, we took this order!"

Speaking of this, Wu Lao Liu put his heart sideways: "Go to the city to recruit workers immediately, and the salary will be increased by 20%... No, forty percent, it can be a man or a woman, including food and accommodation! ”

"Daddy! Many duck farms are recruiting workers in the city, and the wages have been increased to fifty percent, and they have already been used as street workers! ”

"Bunny, why don't you go and recruit workers... Grab people! This trade must be done! ”

Seeing his son running out in a panic, Wu Lao Liu only felt a little dizzy, happiness came too suddenly, and he couldn't bear it a little too much for his age.

After living for so many years, it was the first time he encountered this kind of thing, the official army was fighting, and he could actually give ordinary people the opportunity to buy and sell and make a fortune, with a total of 60,000 pieces of down jackets, how much money he had to make just by selling duck down! (To be continued.) )