87 Chapter 87
◎Inspector of Salt◎
Snakes have their own paths, and rats have their own ways.
Even the most honest businessman may have shady information channels.
Manager Zheng had just returned from transporting grain from Shaanxi. Holding the salt permit in his hand, he led the caravan porters to a small town in the southern suburbs of Cangxi County before dusk.
As night was about to fall, a fire dragon suddenly ignited in the town that should have been silent. The fire dragon coiled in a remote southwest part of the town. After nightfall, the town was crowded with people and businessmen.
The black market for buying and selling salt permits that Manager Zheng found out about was right here.
Merchants coming to the black market all held torches and gathered on both sides of the path. The flames were brighter than the stars.
Manager Zheng had stuck a few wheat stalks on the cart and tied a piece of white linen to the stalks.
In front and behind the caravan were merchants queuing up to enter the market. Some of them were decorated with white cloth made of wheat straw, while others had strips of cloth of other colors tied to the straw, obviously to distinguish the types of transactions.
The word "mai" is homophonic to "mai" (sell), and the white linen represents salt.
There were quite a few people in Manager Zheng’s caravan, all of them were dark-skinned men. Xie Mingzhuo and Jiang Qing were not noticeable among them.
After entering the market, everyone chose a suitable location to stop and wait for customers to come.
It was Manager Zheng's first time here, and he felt a little uncomfortable. He covered half of his face with a handkerchief, and his eyes were furtive, alert to the movements around him.
"What are you doing?" The man from the caravan on the left was confused. "Is this shameful?"
Manager Zheng muttered, "Aren't you afraid?"
"What are you afraid of?"
"We're breaking the law," Steward Zheng asked stealthily, "Aren't you afraid the officials will come and investigate?"
The man was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, which aroused the curiosity of the others and made them ask questions. After listening to what he said, they all laughed.
Manager Zheng covered his hands even tighter, and asked guiltily, "What are you laughing at?"
"Is this your first time here?" someone kindly replied, "Don't be afraid. If the officials really wanted to investigate, they would have come long ago. Besides, they know all about our affairs..."
"Ahem." Another person interrupted.
Everyone changed the subject and stopped paying attention to Manager Zheng.
Manager Zheng muttered quietly, "I heard the princess is going to Sichuan. Who knows if the officials will suddenly show up?"
"Nonsense," sneered the man from the caravan on the left. "If the princess could come here, I'd eat this wheel."
Jiang Qing: “…”
Be honest in life, or just eat it now.
Xie Mingzhuo observed the rest of the team. Most of the wheat straw was tied with white cloth strips, and a few were tied with red, green and black cloth.
"Manager Zheng, why are they different?"
Old Zheng lowered his voice and said, "They are different from us. We sell salt permits, which are just pieces of paper, but they sell the real goods."
"What kind of stuff?"
"The red one is iron, the green one is tea, and the black one is coal."
Xie Mingzhuo was slightly surprised. Iron products were also state-owned. Although private enterprises were allowed, the regulations were relatively strict.
Tea is often used to exchange for horses on the grasslands, so it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a strategic material.
Not to mention coal, which is one of the most important energy sources at present and an indispensable fuel for industry.
It is really shocking that such a small black market can bring together the trade of salt, iron, tea and coal.
There are countless black markets like this across the country.
Black market transactions can indeed provide convenience for the people, but these transactions can avoid taxation and disrupt the market for salt, iron, tea and coal. The interest chain involved is far more complicated than she imagined. In the long run, the people will suffer the most.
The imperial court can exercise macro-control, while private monopolies will only intensify the exploitation of ordinary people.
Ultimately, it was because the court's relevant systems were not perfect that provided fertile ground for the black market to grow.
"That's amazing." She squatted beside the rickshaw with her hands in her pockets, laughed foolishly twice, then lowered her head, as if staring at the ants on the ground in a trance.
Two pairs of black boots passed by her and stopped in front of the limousine.
"How many poles are you selling?" The person who spoke had an obviously injured voice, his voice was hoarse and unpleasant, and it was impossible to tell whether he was a man or a woman.
"A few poles" is a jargon, which actually means asking how many salt permits are required. One pole is one permit, and each large permit is equivalent to 400 kilograms of salt, while each small permit is equivalent to 200 kilograms of salt.
Manager Zheng was responsible for the large-scale salt tax, and each tax was equivalent to eight cents and four cents of silver.
Xie Mingzhuo raised his head and looked over in the torchlight. Two people dressed as men were questioning Manager Zheng.
The man who asked the question was a little short, with a regular but ordinary face. The only distinctive feature was his eyebrows, which looked like dry grass that had been trampled on, messy and disorganized.
The man next to him was taller, with a slightly rough face, a scar at the corner of his eye, and a bit of a gangster-like air. He was a martial artist.
Xie Mingzhuo is not good at painting, but when he was a child he followed his father and learned some techniques of figure painting.
There are indeed physical differences between women and men, and these features need to be distinguished when painting, so she has some vision when it comes to distinguishing between men and women.
No matter how similar the costume is, it is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, and it is impossible to be perfect.
The attire of the person in front of him was enough to deceive most people, but Xie Mingzhuo judged that she was a woman disguised as a man from the way she walked past him just now, her current posture, and the manner and tone of her voice.
The man was also perceptive and noticed the gaze, so he turned his head to look over.
"Little brother, do you have something to say?" She spoke Mandarin with a Sichuan accent.
Xie Mingzhuo shook his head and said nothing.
The other person was a woman disguised as a man, so she must be sensitive, and she was exposed as soon as she opened her mouth.
The man withdrew his gaze and continued to ask Manager Zheng.
Manager Zheng stretched out his two hands.
"How much?"
Manager Zheng held up a finger, indicating that he would sell one string for one.
Eight cents and four cents was just the official salt price, and ten yin was just the price written on the salt permit. Once you arrived at the salt field, the salt master had the final say on how much salt you could withdraw. If you could draw more yin based on your ability, you would definitely make a profit.
Even if he sold one tael of silver, Manager Zheng actually didn't make much money himself. Going back and forth to the border town consumed a lot of food and energy, and the porters in the caravan were also waiting to be paid, so in the end he had very little left in his pocket.
"Where are you going?"
"Jianzhou Salt Works."
The person asking for the price had his right hand behind his back and was playing with a bamboo fan with his left. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll ask other companies."
Manager Zheng nodded dejectedly.
Later, other people also asked for the price. Manager Zheng lowered the price from 8.4 cents to 7.5 cents, but still failed to sell it.
He squatted down and started smoking his pipe again.
The man on his left comforted him: "You are unfamiliar, so we dare not take the risk."
"I know." Manager Zheng pulled his hair. He shouldn't have tried to sell salt permits. Wouldn't it be safer to just follow the procedures?
After a moment's pause, he stood up decisively and told Xie Mingzhuo and the others, "We're not selling it anymore. Let's go."
The car did not move, and a folding fan blocked the way in front of Manager Zheng.
"Why are you leaving before the deal is done?"
At this time, Xie Mingzhuo had stood up and was standing behind Manager Zheng. He could clearly see the neck opposite him. There was a flesh-colored scar on the throat, shaped like a centipede, lying across the middle of the neck. The raised strip of flesh completely covered the Adam's apple.
Manager Zheng frowned and said, "I don't plan to sell it."
"Why?"
"Why so many? I won't sell it if I don't want to." Manager Zheng has traveled all over the country for many years and is not afraid of anything.
He couldn't figure out the other party's intentions and temper, so he could only act tough first. If he could scare the other party, that would be the best. If not, he would act according to the circumstances.
"Oh." The man put away his fan and moved aside.
The caravan left the black market in the dark.
The road is difficult to travel at night, and they have "filial piety" in the car. If they encounter a thief who wants to rob them on the road, they will inevitably have to defend themselves.
Although his strength men were all skilled in martial arts and he had recruited two new strongmen, who would want to be tripped if they could walk safely?
Not long after they walked, one of their men whispered, "Manager Zheng, those two have been following us."
Manager Zheng looked back and saw that they were following behind not too far away, not staring at the caravan, and chatting from time to time.
There is only one road. If they can walk on it, others can walk on it too. You can't accuse others of deliberately following you just because you are walking on the same road, right?
"Slow down." Manager Zheng whispered.
He wanted to see if he was following her intentionally.
As expected, when the convoy was slow, the two of them were also slow, and when the convoy was fast, the two of them were also fast. If this wasn't intentional following them, how could it be?
Manager Zheng gestured to the parking team, then turned around and asked bluntly, "If you said you're not selling, why are you still following me?"
"If you can take this road, I can take it too." The man still held his right hand behind his back, his left hand gripping the handle of his fan. He bowed before the sullen-faced Zheng and said with a polite smile, "Traveling together is fate. My name is Yan Shan, and this is my brother Yan Tai. May I ask your name, sir?"
Manager Zheng: “…”
This person did not play by the rules, disrupting his rhythm and making him at a loss.
And he speaks in a very elegant manner, which shows that he is definitely not the same kind of person as them.
He straightened his face and bowed, "My last name is Zheng, and I'm the fifth in the family."
"So it's Manager Zheng. My apologies." Yan Shan stepped forward. "May I join you?"
"What on earth are you going to do?" Zheng Wu puffed his beard and glared.
"Alas." Yan Shan sighed heavily, "Don't worry about Brother Zheng laughing at you. My brother and I are just trying to find a way to make a living."
"Then go find it. Why are you following me?"
"My brother and I have been searching for a long time and have done many jobs, but we can't make enough money to eat. We heard that selling salt is profitable, so we wanted to try it. But we have no caravan and no connections, so we have the audacity to follow you."
Zheng Wu: “…”
It turned out that he compared prices from three different stores in order to see who was the easiest to talk to. He suffered many losses because of his "honesty".
"I have enough manpower, you can go look for another company." He waved his hand to decline.
Yan Shan: "Brother."
Yan Tai, who had been silent all this time, stepped out immediately. In front of Zheng Wu, he held up a cart full of "filial piety" with one hand, shouted, and lifted it up!
Everyone's shocked expressions were exactly the same as when they saw Xie Mingzhuo and Jiang Qing's "performance".
Xie Mingzhuo: “…”
The characters are quite similar, both are women disguised as men, and both are strong enough to lift a tripod.
Her eyes unexpectedly met Yan Shan.
The latter pointed with his fan and said, "This young man looks skinny, but my brother has such strength, he will definitely not let Manager Zheng down."
Xie Mingzhuo: ???
Just look for a job, why bother to pull others down?
She looked at Manager Zheng, who had an expression that said, "You should put on a show too." The other porters also looked expectant. It was rare to see something lively on the boring road.
Xie Mingzhuo felt helpless and walked silently to Yan Tai's side. She was only a finger shorter than Yan Tai, but her figure was thin. Compared with Yan Tai, she looked extremely frail.
She reached out and lifted up the same pallet.
The Yan siblings both raised their brows, but before their brows were raised to the highest point, their eyes had already widened uncontrollably.
There was no shouting or gathering of strength, no veins bulging, this seemingly thin young porter lifted the pallet so calmly, even lifting it higher than Yan Tai.
Xie Mingzhuo slowly let go and returned behind Manager Zheng with an expressionless face.
Seeing the shock on the faces of the Yan brothers and sisters, Manager Zheng felt as refreshed as if he had drunk a bucket of ice water in the middle of summer.
"Manager Zheng has many talented people under his command. I was just too blind to judge." Yan Shan quickly realized what was happening. He praised him and then continued to recommend him, "My brother is not only strong, but also knows some martial arts. Manager Zheng, can you let us have a job?"
Manager Zheng turned his gaze to Jiang Qing again, crossed his arms and stood at ease.
Jiang Qing: It’s never-ending, right?
When she saw the princess nod slightly, she stood up, clasped her fists, and said in a gruff voice, "My name is Tiegun, and I've also learned boxing and kicking."
The Yan brothers and sisters: "..."
This guy ate quite a lot tonight, enough for a year.
After a fight of fists and kicks, Yan Tai was defeated miserably. The scars at the corners of his eyes were filled with unwillingness and surprise. He stared at Jiang Qing with wide eyes, as if he wanted to continue fighting.
His boxing and kicking skills were heavily influenced by the martial arts world. Xie Mingzhuo saw through it at a glance and became suspicious.
This brother and sister are really strange. One speaks like someone from a scholarly family, while the other speaks like a gangster.
What exactly do they want to do by joining the caravan?
Manager Zheng is honest, not stupid. He accepted the iron pillar and iron rod because they were simple-minded. But there seemed something wrong with these two people who came forward.
"Brother Yan, you look like a scholar, and your brother is also skilled. He can make a living anywhere. Why do you have to come to me?"
Yan Shan said confidently: "You can make a lot of money selling salt."
"The ones who make money are the big salt merchants who have connections. They can spend tens of thousands of yin at a time. We are just doing small things, we can't even get a share of the soup. Don't follow us."
Yan Shan could only sigh and said, "It's uneasy to walk at night. Can my brother and I come together?"
"as you like."
Having seen enough of the excitement, Manager Zheng and his men set off again to the next town to stay overnight and rest.
The Yan brothers and sisters also followed them.
The next day, the morning light was dim.
Xie Mingzhuo was squatting on the side of the road, brushing his teeth with Jiang Qing using tooth powder, when suddenly there was another person beside him.
"Brother Tiezhu, you are so strong." Yan Shan brushed his teeth with his left hand, while his right hand hung naturally at his side.
In the morning light, the scar on her neck became clearer. The new tender flesh made people feel numb, and they couldn't help but think that if the wound was just a little deeper, the person in front of them would be dead.
"Curious about this?" Yan Shan raised his neck to show off. "I was robbed before. If it weren't for my brother's excellent martial arts, I would be dead long ago."
Xie Mingzhuo nodded, withdrew his gaze, and continued brushing his teeth.
"Are you mute?" Yan Shan leaned in closer to examine him. "I haven't heard you speak since last night."
Xie Mingzhuo spat out the mouthwash and stood up to leave. He caught a glimpse of her right wrist exposed outside her sleeve. There was also a horrible flesh-colored scar on her wrist, which almost circled most of her wrist.
Her gaze was too obvious. Yan Shan retracted his right hand and said with a smile, "It was also an injury sustained during the attack."
Xie Mingzhuo squatted down again, looking mysterious, and leaned close to her ear.
Yan Shan couldn't help but turn aside, pricked up his ears, and heard her ask, "My name is Tiezhu. Do you know how to write these two words?"
“…”
Xie Mingzhuo looked at her and said, "Aren't you a scholar?"
"I know how to write, do you want to learn?"
Xie Mingzhuo nodded.
"I can teach you, but there's one condition." Yan Shan said bluntly, "Help me convince Manager Zheng to let my brother and I join the group."
"Oh." Xie Mingzhuo stood up, "I suddenly don't want to study anymore."
Yan Shan: “…”
She suddenly stood up and stopped Xie Mingzhuo. After a short standoff, she gave in and said helplessly, "I'd like to teach you, but I don't have paper or pen."
Xie Mingzhuo handed her a thin branch.
"That's fine." Yan Shan had no choice but to take the branch with his left hand and write the word "Iron Pillar" on the ground.
The feeling of drawing on the ground with a branch is certainly different from that of writing on paper, but the words written by the same person have their own unique structure and style, which will not change no matter how they are written.
Xie Mingzhuo looked at the two words on the ground, and he had some understanding in his mind, but he also had more doubts.
The Imperial Censor who took office last year had submitted more than a dozen memorials, the first of which had the worst handwriting. However, he stated in the memorial that he had encountered bandits on the road and his right hand was too seriously injured to use the pen, so he had to use his left hand instead.
After that, each memorial became more and more neat, and the handwriting was exactly the same as the two words on the ground.
But why would the Salt Inspector be a woman?
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