Chapter 165: The People Have Their Own Sufferings

Dai Qi came to her door and not only brought a large basket of things such as meat, tea, snacks, etc., but also brought her an "order".

He came to Lu Qiniang to order dry food for the return trip, and also introduced many clients to her.

Because many of the ship captains are familiar with each other and all need to buy dry food, his introduction will bring a lot of business to Lu Qiniang.

Lu Qiniang was naturally happy.

"Uncle Dai Qi, thank you so much."

Because Dai Qi is 36 years old this year and already has grandchildren, Lu Qiniang calls him "Uncle Dai Qi".

"Why are you being polite? If you want to thank me, I should be the one thanking you."

"Uncle Dai Qi, when you go back this year, will you come to the capital again?"

"Let's see how things go on the way back. If the journey back is smooth and we can make it in time, we'll come back again." Dai Qi said, "This is the bulk of our annual income. I hope I can do one more trip."

However, there were some things that were beyond his control, such as canal congestion and the need to make way for grain boats escorted by government troops, which sometimes caused delays of several days.

Lu Qiniang nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "It's true that every walk of life is not easy."

Dai Qi sighed and said, "If you can find other ways to make a living, don't be a traitor."

Lu Qiniang learned about a new business from his story.

It turned out that the grain ships were responsible for transporting grain to the capital, and this grain was handed over by the people.

According to the custom of this dynasty, grain sent from local areas to the capital was escorted by government troops, and this process was called Duiyun.

However, the losses on the road, including the expenses of escort by government troops, must be borne by the local governments themselves.

Local governments will then put this burden on the people.

"The imperial court doesn't care how much you deduct for transportation fees. You have to pay whatever grain they want. So the local officials add their own allowances for losses and transportation fees."

After drinking Lu Qinniang's tea, Dai Qi also opened up and began to complain.

The people were supposed to pay three stone of grain, but with these added, they might have to pay five stone.

"So many?" Lu Qiniang was shocked.

She had never farmed before. In the most difficult times in the past, she would go to the village and pick up some vegetable leaves that people didn't want, so she really didn't understand the taxes on farming.

She calculated on her fingers, "Isn't this a 70% increase?"

"Seventy percent is normal, and some places even double it," Dai Qi said. "The court said the maximum increase would be 50%, but the people below misinterpreted it. So, under these circumstances, folk relief households like us came into being."

It turns out that household registration is equivalent to subcontracting.

The government deducted 70% of the people's losses, and the smart ones took out 20% to contract out freight to the people.

Jie Hu came into being.

"We have to take responsibility to the end. If the ship sinks, the government will not let us go, and we will have to pay compensation."

Therefore, Dai Qi was really grateful to Lu Qiniang.

Lu Qiniang sighed, "Everyone thinks sailing makes money quickly, but they don't know that there are no easy jobs. For ordinary people like us, nothing is easy."

She was also very glad that she saw it in time that day.

If it's any later, it will be difficult to help.

"But the imperial court won't do anything about it?" Lu Qiniang asked, "70%! Isn't 10% and 50% enough for those parasites? Aren't you afraid they'll starve to death?"

"What can we ordinary people do?"

"Oh, is there no official who speaks for us ordinary people?" Lu Qiniang sighed, but in her heart she was thinking about turning around and asking Xiao Yan who was in charge of this matter.

If the Fifth Young Master’s words are effective, let him tell the Emperor!

If he is not useful, I wonder if Duke Yun will care about it.

Anyway, someone has to bring this up.

This is much more meaningful than taking revenge on Zhang Heyao.

But then he thought again, this would also be an offensive thing, and it would also harm the Fifth Young Master and Duke Yun.

No, no, she turned around and talked to Xiao Yan about it.

If you can help, do so. If you can’t, just protect yourself first.

Daya was pickling mustard greens, pouring coarse salt into the pickle jar.

Dai Qi's eyes flickered when he saw the salt, and he suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "How much did you pay per pound of salt?"

"Twelve wen," Lu Qiniang said, "These are all sold by the government, and they're all the same price. Why, Uncle Dai Qi, are they cheaper where you are?"

Dai Qi looked outside the gate and saw no one. He then said in a lower voice, "I know where to buy illegal salt..."

"No, no." Lu Qiniang waved her hands repeatedly, "Uncle Dai Qi, I'm timid, I don't dare to buy it."

There was nothing she could do when she couldn't get salt, so maybe she had to buy some.

But now she has enough money, so she doesn't think about doing anything illegal.

Dai Qi laughed and said, "You seem so capable, but you are so timid. I tell you, you won't be caught. Because the people selling the illegal salt are soldiers."

"Officers and soldiers are selling illegal salt?" Lu Qiniang opened her eyes wide in shock.

Dai Qi told her that those who sold contraband salt were the government troops responsible for transporting grain.

They would smuggle contraband on the grain boats.

Some people are bold enough to pretend to have 20% or 30% of their own goods.

Among the contraband, there were some bold enough to bring in contraband salt.

Of course, buying and selling illegal salt requires reliable channels and will not be sold to outsiders at will.

Lu Qiniang sighed, "There are so many complicated tricks here, and only someone in this industry would understand."

"Yes, it's a mess! The people are the ones suffering."

"It's too difficult." Lu Qiniang sighed, "Actually, I've met some officials, and I think they're all good people. But they don't know the specific conditions under the government... and the common people don't know that the court only wants a 50% increase, otherwise someone would always complain."

"It's true that people know very little. Ordinary people work hard in the fields. Not to mention reading, few of them even know how to count. They just pay whatever they are asked to pay." Dai Qi was also very emotional.

"But even if I knew," he added, "how can a small arm twist a big leg? I still have to surrender honestly. Alas, it's fate, there's nothing I can do about it."

Lu Qiniang followed with a long sigh.

She then asked Dai Qi when he would need dry food.

Dai Qi said, "I can't decide on a date. I'm still waiting for the goods to arrive. It could take three to five days, ten days or half a month. It depends on the owner's notification."

"Okay, anyway, just tell me a day or two in advance and hurry up."

Lu Qiniang wanted to keep Dai Qi for dinner, but Dai Qi declined, saying that he couldn't leave anyone on the boat.

Lu Qiniang brought him some dry food and forced it on him. "Everything is expensive in the capital, so the more you save, the better."

When Xiao Yan came back in the evening, Lu Qiniang told him about this.

Xiao Yan said, "I've heard of this before, but I didn't expect it to be so outrageous."

"What do you think we should do about this? Can we help? If we ask Duke Yun and the Fifth Young Master to step in, won't that be a burden to them?"

"Well, that's not good." Xiao Yan said.

Because that affects the interests of too many people.

"I'll figure it out," he said.

Lu Qiniang gave him a thumbs up: "What did I say? A wolf travels a thousand miles to eat meat. Xiao Yan, it has to be you!"

Xiao Yan's lips curled up.