Chapter 137: Tax Payment (Additional chapter for Yunqi's 90,000 recommended votes)
Manbao was a little curious about paying grain taxes, so when Zhou Sanlang came to eat the remaining buns, she followed him forward to join in the fun.
All the people queuing here are adult men, let alone children like Manbao, there are no teenagers like Zhou Liulang, so the people around them looked at them curiously.
Manbao quickly entered and saw the official measuring rice with a measuring device. He looked at the household registration book and the slip of paper inside it and said, "Zhou Hu, two adults, must pay four dan of grain, four zhang of silk, and four liang of cotton."
Zhou Hu immediately stepped forward with his load on his shoulder. Strangely, the official didn't weigh the grain, but used a dou (a bucket) instead. Ten dou equaled one shi (a dan), and four shi equaled forty dou (a bucket). Man Bao thought this was too much trouble. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the official use the dou to measure out a full dou from Zhou Hu's bag, then tip it up and directly throw it into the bucket cart nearby. After confirming that there was no impurity in the grain, he sang, "One dou!"
He measured another dou, and still scattering it after it came out, "Two dou..."
Manbao was stunned. She looked at the official measuring the grain thoughtfully, but the people around her were already used to it.
After Zhou Hu finished his work, he went to the village chief's house. There were many adults in his family, four in total, so they had to pay eight stone of grain.
Manbao squatted aside and watched intently. The officer looked at her several times, but seeing that the child was not making any trouble, he did not drive her away.
As soon as the village chief's family was finished, it was the Zhou family's turn. Zhou Dalang quickly handed over the household registration and the slip of paper. According to the laws of this dynasty, a man who turned eighteen was considered a "ding man". Zhou Silang was lucky. He still had two months to go before he turned eighteen, so he was not yet considered an adult.
The Zhou family has four adults, and they also need to pay eight stone of grain.
The official was equally ruthless with the Zhou family's grain. He filled a bucket with it and put it down, then sang it out loudly. The recorder next to him would make a note of it. When he recorded sixteen correct characters, the tax was paid.
Manbao watched from the side, and as she saw the food gradually decreasing, she finally understood why her father added so much extra food when weighing it last night.
At the end of the measurement, only a thin layer was left in the last bag of grain of the Zhou family. Zhou Dalang took a stick and went to the side to exchange for documents, while Zhou Erlang put the bag and the remaining grain on the cart and stepped aside to wait.
After getting the receipt, Zhou Dalang went to hold Manbao's hand.
There were only men here, so Zhou Xi couldn't follow them. She stayed behind and greeted them as soon as they came out. She asked with a smile, "How is it going? Are you done?"
"It's over. It went very smoothly."
Zhou Xi glanced at the remaining grain in the bag and asked in a low voice, "Why did they take away so much more this year?"
Zhou Dalang also sighed and shook his head, saying, "Fortunately, they didn't increase the amount. I heard that the neighboring county added an inch of wood to the bucket last year."
Zhou Xi couldn't help but spit out, "How wicked!"
Manbao stood aside and couldn't help asking, "Brother, are they embezzling money?"
Zhou Dalang was so frightened that he covered her mouth, looked around nervously and said, "Little Ancestor, talk about this when you get home, don't dare say it on the street."
Manbao couldn't help but hum twice, then turned and ran to find his fourth and fifth brothers, and discussed with them: "Fifth brother, let's sell more sugar to Second Sister Fu. Fourth brother, next time you come to the county to sell ginger, remember to go to the back door of the Fu family and ask for a higher price. Don't be polite."
He added, "And the family of the chief clerk and the county lieutenant, go hang out at their back doors more often."
Zhou Silang saw that she was furious, so he touched her forehead and asked, "How did they offend you?"
"Humph, they are not good officials. We have to make money from them."
Zhou Silang was now very interested in making money. He was happy to hear this and nodded, saying, "No problem. Even if you didn't tell me, I would have gone there. There are only a few places in this county that can afford tea."
Although Zhou Silang didn't come to the county town as often as Zhou Wulang, he had many friends, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to the casino in the first place.
Their family grows a lot of ginger. Except for the fact that it is relatively cheap when sold to Jishidiang and grocery stores, the price of selling it in retail is a bit higher, so he prefers to sell it in retail himself.
Forty cents per catty is the cheapest. Forty-five cents, fifty cents, he can set the price according to the market. Besides, the ginger is tender now, and has a unique flavor. Although Zhou Silang really doesn't understand what the spicy ginger soup tastes like, Manbao said so. He thinks that perhaps the brains of scholars are different from theirs.
So Zhou Silang carried the ginger on his back and hawked it on the street without any fear. He was bold and thick-skinned. Zhou Wulang wanted to ask for forty-five cents, but he started with fifty cents and praised his ginger to the skies, all based on the effects that Manbao had told him.
The ginger is planted at the foot of the mountain and watered with sweet mountain spring water every day, using the best farm fertilizer. The mountain is a place of outstanding people and good feng shui. The ginger grown there is very therapeutic and delicious.
Then, since my sister (aunt) is so kind, I will give you a discount of two cents per pound. What, five cents?
That's too much, three cents, it's not easy for us herbal farmers to grow ginger...
Yes, Zhou Silang has already called himself a herbal farmer.
After selling the ginger at the price of 47 wen per pound, Zhou Silang also took the opportunity to promote the yam that was about to mature. After praising its therapeutic effect and taste, he made an appointment with everyone to bring some for them to taste if it was ripe.
Zhou Wulang watched the whole process with his eyes wide open. He thought he was already capable enough, after all, he had been doing business for a year. However, he didn't expect that his fourth brother was even more capable than him and got the hang of it so quickly.
Zhou Silang is not only good at selling things, but also very good at intercepting money.
He looked around, and while no one was paying attention, he took out two coins from the money he had just received and put them into another small pocket, then smiled and took Lao Wu to the next door to sell.
Zhou Wulang blinked, pretended not to see, and followed obediently.
Zhou Silang was very cunning. He chose to sell his ginger in wealthy areas or where county officials lived. People in these places were more willing to spend money to buy things. What he sold was what they needed in daily life, and the ginger was very fresh, so many people were willing to buy it.
He didn't even go to the market. He sold all the ginger in these two areas, then waved his hand and went shopping.
Zhou Wulang said, "Fourth brother, let's go home."
"Why go home? It's still early. Let's go shopping for a while before going back."
"Mom said that if I dare to lie, she will break my legs when I get back, so Fourth Brother, I will not lie for you."
Zhou Silang stiffened, his shoulders slumped, and he said, "Alright, let's go back. Mother is such a jerk. She's still so strict even though we're already this old."
Zhou Wulang felt that he should not be included in "we". "When I came to the county before, mother never told me this. It was you that she was worried about."
Zhou Silang muttered, "I've changed."
Zhou Wulang said secretly: "That's strange!"
(End of this chapter)
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