Chapter 145: Ignoring the Importance of Salt

When the two arrived at the city gate, only seven of the eight soldiers from the previous night remained; the missing one must have gone to buy something.

A few people stood scattered at the wide-open city gate. Su Zhenzhen then realized that, due to the dim lighting and her lack of attention to them last night, she had overlooked the fact that their military uniforms did not fit properly.

When the leading soldier saw Su Zhenzhen approaching, he immediately greeted her with a smile, "Young lady, what brings you here? Are you looking to buy some food?"

Su Zhenzhen smiled warmly and said, "I would like to ask the general to help me find the way to the county government office. My husband and I need to have our household registration and travel permits checked when we go to the south."

The leading soldier slapped his forehead. “Look at my memory! Logically speaking, the first thing to do when entering or leaving a city is to take the travel permit to the county government for stamping. We haven’t seen anyone from the north in Chuanbei City for a long time, and those from the south are all refugees. We expel them as soon as possible, so we don’t have time to bother with these official procedures.”

Su Zhenzhen was surprised to receive another useful piece of information unintentionally, and she raised the corners of her lips almost imperceptibly.

I was curious before, since Chuanbei City is closer to the south, the refugees should have first gathered in Chuanbei City after crossing the Yangtze River. Now it seems that the local officials ordered the expulsion.

"Young Madam, I'll take you and your husband to the county government office to get the official stamps." After instructing the remaining soldiers to guard the gate, the leading soldier led the way for Su Zhenzhen.

Taking advantage of the casual conversation, Su Zhenzhen began to probe for information.

"This general must have been quite burly before, your uniform looks much looser now. Well, I don't know what's going on these past few years, with all the natural and man-made disasters, just being able to survive and have enough to eat is a blessing."

Su Zhenzhen sighed, saying that playing the victim was a quick way to get closer to someone.

Sure enough, the leading soldier sighed, "That's right, every day feels like we're living for the next day. Chuanbei City used to be a big city, after all, it's located by the Yangtze River and was once a vital link between the north and south. I don't know why God is so blind, the south has been hit by disaster after disaster, and even the Yangtze River has dried up considerably. The people in the south can't even get enough to eat, and people from the north don't want to come to this godforsaken place. Chuanbei City is like a dead city, there are hardly any people left in the city now. My uniform is an old thing from twenty years ago, where will the government get the money to buy us new ones?"

Su Zhenzhen continued to probe, "The imperial court must allocate funds to various regions every year, right?"

The leading soldier, probably having not found anyone to talk to for a long time, disregarded whether it was appropriate for him to do so and began to pour out his grievances to Su Zhenzhen.

"The imperial court? I've been a city guard for twenty years, and I haven't seen a single copper coin in the county government office. The imperial court has never sent anything here. The five thousand people of Chuanbei City live off the small amount of farmland in the city. But essential daily necessities like oil and salt are hard to come by without merchants coming to trade. We have to buy them from the surrounding cities, and sometimes we can't even find them there, because they are short of them too."

Su Zhenzhen suddenly realized that she had overlooked something very important.

Ordinary people can't just rely on grain; they can't produce essential items like salt with their current technology.

"Where do you usually buy salt?" Su Zhenzhen asked, revealing a hint of surprise at just the right moment. "I'm just curious. We came from Yangcheng. There are shops in Yangcheng that sell plenty of salt."

The leading soldier looked left and right, and seeing that there was no one on the street, he cautiously spoke.

"How can you compare them? Prefect Hu of Yangcheng has connections and can get salt from the east. But our county magistrate of Chuanbei City is old and can't do much even if he wants to. He has neither connections nor power, so he's bound to struggle when it comes to getting things done."

Su Zhenzhen nodded, looking as if she had just realized something.

The leading soldier continued, "We don't usually like to buy salt in Yangcheng because it's expensive there. The surrounding Guancheng and Yuzhou City also sell salt, but their salt is a bit bitter, though it's cheaper."

Su Zhenzhen immediately realized something, "Could there be salt mines in these two cities?"

The leading soldier made a shushing gesture, "These things are best left unsaid to us ordinary folks. We must not spread them around. The imperial court may have forgotten about us for now, but if they suddenly remember us one day and send people to seize the salt, then the people of the surrounding cities will have no way to survive."

Su Zhenzhen disagreed. Judging from the bitterness of the salt in these two cities, they were probably producing coarse salt, which the powerful families of the court would likely not want. These families probably had channels to obtain fine salt. Furthermore, this place was far from the capital, and if they wanted to acquire it, they would have to map out the entire route, which would require enormous manpower and resources, making the cost disproportionate to the benefits.

But at this moment, Su Zhenzhen is playing the role of a young lady visiting relatives, and can only echo the words above.

"General, rest assured, my husband and I are both people who know what is important."

Seeing that Su Zhenzhen had made a promise, the leading soldier did not press the matter further and led them straight to the county government office.

When Su Zhenzhen arrived at the county government office, she found that it was quite dilapidated. Or rather, the entire Chuanbei City seemed to have been forgotten by time. The streets she walked along were all gray and gloomy, and there was hardly anyone to be seen on the road.

The lead soldier pushed open the county government gate with practiced ease and strode inside, talking back as he went.

“Young lady, you and your husband should prepare your travel permits. I will go find the seal to stamp them for you.”

No, is this correct?

Su Zhenzhen voiced her question, "General, shouldn't the county magistrate personally affix the seal?"

The main problem is that they don't have travel permits. Hensheng does have a household registration, but he himself is a complete unregistered resident.

“Young Madam, you may not know this, but there aren’t many people left in our Chuanbei City. The county government is just for show. Whenever we need to use the official seal, we have to come to the county government office ourselves to get it. The magistrate doesn’t care. I’m not afraid you’ll laugh at me, but if it weren’t for the fear that other cities would think there’s no one left in Chuanbei City, we wouldn’t want to do this job of guarding the city. Not only is there no salary, but we’re also exposed to the wind and sun every day.”

Su Zhenzhen seized the opportunity to strike up a conversation, trying to draw the other person's attention back to the road sign.

"Given the current situation in Chuanbei City, why don't you generals plan to relocate to another city?"

The leading soldier had already entered the county government study. Su Zhenzhen and Hensheng exchanged a glance and followed him in.

As soon as I entered, I saw the man rummaging through the desk, muttering, "Which guy didn't put it back where it was after using it last time? Now I have to look for it again."