Chapter 440 Discovering something fishy
Chapter 440 Discovering something fishy
Soon, the group arrived at the town. The town was actually not small, with hundreds of households, most of whom were salt farmers who had lived here for generations and made a living by boiling salt. The town had only one street, which was very lively with taverns, grocery stores, inns, and brothels.
This area should be the official salt area. The private salt area is dozens of miles to the north. Xiao Xia and his party quickly found out about the official salt station.
The official salt office in the town was of course a branch of the Jiangdu Salt Administration. The Jiangdu Salt Administration had about thirty salt fields, and each salt field had an official salt office, which was very small, with only two or three people. They were responsible for collecting salt from salt households and issuing salt permits. The salt households took the salt permits to the Jiangdu County Salt Administration to exchange them for money.
The Salt Inspector then sold the salt to salt merchants, who then transported the salt to various locations for sale.
But according to what Xiao Xia knew, the Salt Inspector sold salt to salt merchants for thirty wen a dou, and they bought it from salt farmers for ten wen a dou, and the twenty wen in between was the profit for the court.
But this is not a monopoly. In a monopoly, there are no middlemen. The salt is purchased directly from the salt farmers, for example, ten wen a dou, and then a hundred wen is added to the price and sold directly to the people. Each county has an official salt shop with a profit of one hundred wen, which kills all the middlemen salt merchants.
What Xiao Xia couldn't understand was where did the Guanlong nobles get the price of ten cents per dou?
There are two possibilities. One is that the Guanlong nobles directly opened a salt field, which must have had very low capital. The second is that they directly collected salt from the salt farmers in the government-run salt fields. The salt farmers were also willing to come to the salt fields to collect salt directly with copper coins, which was much more convenient than for them to run to Jiangdu County, two or three hundred miles away, to exchange salt permits for money.
The second type actually harms the interests of the imperial court. The official salt office and salt inspectors could not afford to offend the Guanlong nobles and could only turn a blind eye.
Xiao Xia did not show up, but asked several clerks to go to the official salt office to inquire. He took Zhang Qiao and walked slowly on the streets of the town, while three hundred personal guards waited outside the town.
Xiao Xia held Zhang Qiao's hand. Zhang Qiao felt a little embarrassed at first, but Xiao Xia refused to let go, so she had to let Xiao Xia do as she pleased.
"Junior Sister, let's go eat something!" Xiao Xia said with a smile.
Zhang Qiao blushed and whispered, "Keep your voice down, others can hear it."
"It's normal for senior sisters and junior brothers to go out! It doesn't matter if others hear it."
Zhang Qiao bit his lip and said, "Then it would be normal for you to let go of your hand. What's the point of holding hands between senior sister and junior brother?"
"Many senior sisters and junior brothers finally become a couple."
"Who's with you two?" Zhang Qiao's face turned even redder.
"Let's go get something to eat!"
Xiao Xia pointed to the restaurant next to him, which was considered the largest restaurant in the town. The sign read "Huanghai Restaurant".
Zhang Qiao nodded. She also wanted to sit down and drink some hot water.
The two entered the small building and sat down by the window. A waiter came up with a big smile on his face and asked, "What would you like to eat?"
“What’s your signature dish?”
"The signature dishes are roasted lamb and sea cucumber soup. Other dishes include stewed sea fish, steamed shrimp, and roasted wild duck. The staple food is rice and white steamed buns."
"What vegetarian options are there?" Zhang Qiao asked.
"The vegetarian dishes are winter melon and lotus root, as well as reed root soaked in vinegar, which is one of our specialty dishes here."
"Why do you have lotus roots here?" Xiao Xia asked curiously.
"My lord, you don't know that there are large tracts of swampland to our west, and a lot of lotus roots are planted there."
"I see. Then what is reed root?"
The man laughed and said, "There are large areas of reeds growing in the swamp, about ten to twenty feet high. We harvest them every November, dry them and use them as firewood. The reed roots are the newly grown shoots. We pick them off and soak them in vinegar. Every household relies on them in the winter."
"If you pinch off the young shoots, won't the reeds disappear?"
The waiter shook his head and said, "Usually we pinch the bud tips of the branches, so as not to affect the main trunk. Besides, there are too many reeds, covering dozens of miles, how can we pick them all?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Then let's have a portion of roasted lamb, a plate of steamed shrimp, a plate of steamed buns, braised winter melon and lotus root, and a portion of reed root soaked in vinegar. Do you have any sake?"
"Yes! Sake from Jiangdu Zhuangyuanlou." "Give me a pot of sake."
"Okay, please wait a moment, my two guests. I'll be right there!"
Zhang Qiao was puzzled and asked, "Young Master, you are smiling mysteriously, why?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Just now the bartender accidentally solved a puzzle for me. I have never known what salt farmers use to make salt, and it only costs ten cents a bucket. Now I know, it's with withered reeds."
Zhang Qiao curled his lips and said, "You have lived in Jiangdu for so many years, but you don't even know what reed is. Don't you know that the poles used by every household are made of reed? And the paper produced in Jiangdu is also made of reed pulp. And the reed root that the bartender mentioned just now was used as medicine in the Taoist temple in Jiangdu."
Xiao Xia scratched his head, "I've never seen it before!"
Zhang Qiao looked around and suddenly pointed at the window pole and said, "Isn't this it?"
Xiao Xia reached out and took the pole down, holding it in his hand to look at it. The pole had been soaked in oil, and he bent it. The pole was very light and hard, without any toughness, and its nodes were very long, the longest being two feet. Its biggest feature was that it was straight. If the nodes at both ends were cut off, it would be a flawless arrow shaft.
Xiao Xia nodded. It was not only good for making arrow shafts, but also for making spear shafts.
At this time, the waiter brought wine and food. Xiao Xia pointed at the pole and said with a smile: "I really like this pole. I'll give it a hundred coins and add it to the food price!"
The waiter smiled and said, "This is not worth much. If you like it, take it. I will find another one to put on the window."
The guy quickly found a pole to prop up the window.
At this time, a loud curse like a broken gong came from the street, "Why don't you go eat shit and fill your dog stomachs? Damn it, it's all right if you have the money, but you dare to ask for twelve cents. It's only ten cents a bucket. If you want to sell, sell it. If not, get out!"
Xiao Xia's heart moved, and he asked the waiter, "Who is yelling?"
The clerk said disdainfully: "The salt merchants of Wanjia Commercial Bank rely on their wealth to dislike everyone and curse at everyone at the slightest provocation."
"Is it the Wanjia Commercial Bank across the street?"
Xiao Xia pointed to the shop opposite, with the words "Wanjia" written on the sign.
"It's them, the Jiangdu Wan family's business, it is said that they have a deep background."
"Isn't this a government-run salt field? Why would a salt merchant come here to buy salt? As far as I know, most salt merchants go to Jiangdu County to buy salt!"
"Jiangdu County buys salt for 50 wen a dou. Wouldn't it be better to buy salt directly from the salt merchants? It only costs 10 wen a dou. However, in the past two years, the salt merchants hope to increase the price to 12 wen a dou, but the salt supervisors refuse, and the salt merchants will not raise the price either."
"But doing so is illegal, and is equivalent to directly robbing the salt from the imperial court."
The clerk sneered and said, "I just said that they have a deep background and have been collecting salt here for many years. How could the salt inspector not know about it? He just doesn't dare to intervene."
Xiao Xia nodded. One leaf can tell the coming of autumn. He only needs to visit a small town to know the answer.
Not long after, Xiao Xia and Zhang Qiao finished their meal and came to the gathering point outside the town. Two officials and three hundred guards were there.
The leading official reported to Xiao Xia: "Your Highness, we have inquired about the situation of the official salt depots. They have a total of thirty official salt depots. The one we saw is the first one, which has two thousand brine pools and produces 30,000 shi of salt every year. The other thirty official salt depots are similar.
Their job is very simple, they just collect salt and issue salt permits, and then transport the salt to the warehouse at Jiangdu Salt Wharf. They don't care about money here, all the money is paid to the Jiangdu Salt Supervisor with the salt permits, and the accounts are checked every six months. If the quantity does not match the salt permit, they will be dismissed at the least, or arrested at the worst, so it seems that the management is very strict and there are no problems. "
Xiao Xia nodded and said to the captain of the personal guards, Wang Zhen, "There is a Huanghai Restaurant on the town street. It is the only two-story building in the town and can be seen at a glance. Opposite it is the Wanjia Trading Company. Take a dozen brothers to capture the people from the Wanjia Trading Company for me. Remember to lock the door. If there are account books, bring them as well!"
"Follow the order!"
Wang Zhen immediately led a dozen soldiers into the town.
(End of this chapter)