Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 720 Have You Heard

Liuyang Prefecture.

Willow branches are sprouting, the sun is shining, and spring is in full swing.

Sanliang Teahouse is located beside a small river in the city, where people can drink tea, play chess and chat.

"Have you heard? Tong'an County is going to open a cloth shop in our city!"

"Selling cotton cloth?! Really? I went to Tongan County a few days ago, and they haven't started selling cotton cloth yet. Can we get ahead of them here?"

"Hey, the door isn't open yet! My sister-in-law, you know that, right?"

"The one who sells rouge?"

"Yes! It's her. She said that Tong'an County bought the Mo's cloth shop next to the rouge shop and is planning to open a cotton cloth shop there!"

"Wow! You buy such a big building just like that? You are worthy of being Lord Shen. Let's go and take a look! What if we catch it when it opens?"

"You're dreaming! If they open the door, there will be firecrackers and gongs and drums, and maybe even officials will go to congratulate them! How can you open the door secretly?"

"Then I don't think we can wait long! The building was originally a cloth shop. Tongan County can use it directly after taking it over. Even the decoration is saved. How can it not be fast?"

"Brother, this is wrong."

"Oh? What's the difference?"

"My sister-in-law said that now the building has been demolished and only the walls and pillars are left!"

"Wow! Then I must go and have a look. Who is willing to go with me?"

"I go!"

"I go!"

"I want to go see it too!"

The sixth shop on the river bank happened to be a cloth shop. Most of the items sold in the shop were linen, both coarse and fine, but there were not many colors to choose from. Apart from black and white, the remaining linen was mostly simple indigo and light red.

It’s not that people like indigo and light magenta, but that these two dyes are the cheapest.

For cloth workshops, dyeing linen into these two colors is the most cost-effective way.

But from the perspective of ordinary people, there is nothing to choose from.

In other words – buy it if you like.

There were originally a few customers selecting cloth in Zhao's Cloth Shop, but the noise of conversation coming from the teahouse was quite loud, and the shop owner had no way to go out and shut them up, so the conversations that had just happened were heard by the people who were buying linen.

Tongan County is going to open a cloth shop in the provincial capital?

The people who were selecting linen put down the linen at the same time and looked up quietly to meet his gaze.

——Tongan Cloth Shop?

——Are you selling cotton cloth?

——Who knows... cotton might be cheaper than linen.

——Then why buy linen?

--Walk?

--go!

go!

Seeing that the situation was not good, Shopkeeper Zhao raised his hand quickly, "Hey, you guys... stop——!"

Before he could step out of the counter, all the people in the cloth shop had left. In a blink of an eye, the place was quiet and peaceful. Only the gentle river breeze made the indigo linen flutter slightly, blocking his sight before he could chase out.

"Left again!" Shopkeeper Zhao sat back on the stool, rubbing his head in annoyance. "You're still picking and choosing over the same color of fabric. I don't know what you're doing. If you want to buy it, can't you just pay for it?"

He was really angry.

This isn't the first time this has happened!

Spring is the season when people make clothes, but a few days ago, the business of the shops has plummeted.

There was no need to ask around, the news that "Tong'an County was going to open a cloth shop in the provincial capital" quietly reached the ears of him and several of his colleagues.

Helplessness, grievance, anxiety, and even a hint of resentment gradually filled his entire chest.

If it weren't for Tong'an Cloth Shop, if cotton cloth hadn't come into the world...how could his business have been so pathetic?

If this continues, his Zhao's Cloth Shop... will probably end up like the Mo's Cloth Shop and have to close down!

Thinking of this, Manager Zhao's resentment towards Tongan County grew even stronger.

Suddenly, a figure fell on the brick floor. Shopkeeper Zhao quickly gathered his emotions and stood up, smiling and looking up: "Sir, please come in. What kind of food would you like to see today..."

When he saw who was coming, the smile froze on the corner of his mouth again.

"Master Wufang, you are here..."

Shopkeeper Zhao asked the other party to sit down, holding the arm of the chair and sighing dejectedly: "Master Wu, you can see the current situation of the shop. It's not that I don't want to pay you, but this cloth... It's really impossible to sell it..."

The man called "Master Wu" is not very old, even a few years younger than Manager Zhao, but he runs the second largest cloth shop in Liuyang Prefecture, and can be described as a young and promising man.

Looking at Manager Zhao himself, he is actually not bad.

Half a year ago, he had his own weaving workshop named Zhao’s Weaving Workshop.

——Although the workshop is not large in scale, it is still self-sufficient in weaving and dyeing cloth. Therefore, over the years, Zhao's Cloth Shop can be said to have a small revenue.

Unfortunately, the good times are neither long nor short.

After cotton textile machines were manufactured in Tongan County, Zhao's cloth shop closed down.

Without the weaving workshop, Zhao's Cloth Shop went from being "self-sufficient" to "collecting and selling cloth", and the cloth shop's upstream supplier was Wu's Cloth Shop.

Shopkeeper Zhao thought that Master Wu was here to collect debts.

"Master Wu, the cloth cannot be sold, it is really... not my fault. I am sure you have heard that Tongan Cloth Shop will open soon. When that time comes, my cloth shop... Well, Master Wu, can those cloths that cannot be sold be returned to the cloth shop?"

He actually knew that what he said was a little unkind.

——If the cloth can be sold, the profit belongs to the shop.

——If they cannot be sold, the workshop will bear the loss.

There is no such thing in the world.

But...but he really had no choice.

After hearing this, Wu Fangzhu was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "Manager Zhao, we sell cloth, and linen is the most breathable and wear-resistant. How can we not sell it?"

In the ears of Shopkeeper Zhao, these words meant rejection.

The corners of his mouth sank. "Master Wu, you run a workshop. You must know the current situation of each cloth shop better than me. You should also know more about whether the cloth can be sold or not."

The words sounded a bit impolite, but Master Wu kept smiling, and even took the initiative and poured more tea for the two of them.

"Manager Zhao, don't be so pessimistic. Compared with the cotton cloth in Tongan County, our linen cloth is indeed not good enough, but... it is not completely useless. To be honest, I went to Tongan County yesterday and met Miss Mo there. She gave us... a way to survive on the orders of Lord Shen."

"A way out?" Shopkeeper Zhao suddenly sat up straight, leaning on the table, with shock on his face: "You asked for a way out from Lord Shen?!"

What kind of way to survive would that be?

Could it be that Lord Shen is willing to sell the cotton cloth to them? !

Master Wu coughed lightly, "It can't be said that she asked for it... It was Master Shen. She had already planned it for all our cloth shops."