Chapter 338 Salt is very expensive
The Black Mountain Army encountered a problem of salt shortage. After discussion, they decided to send a group of people to Jiezhou.
Jiezhou, Hedong Salt Lake.
It is located at the junction of Hedong Province and Guannai Province, not far from Gyeonggi Province.
Because time was urgent and the situation outside was chaotic, they sent the villagers from Black Bandit Mountain to rush over as fast as possible.
Su Zhizhi also went along. She had never seen a salt lake before, so she didn't miss any opportunity to broaden her horizons.
Yuan Caiwei used to be together, but now she often has to practice swordsmanship with Bai Xun. She watched Su Zhizhi leave with a little regret.
Su Zhizhi said to Yuan Caiwei, "Caiwei, practice hard. Maybe when Ning An comes back in a while, the three of us can practice together then."
Yuan Caiwei swung her sword and said, "Okay!"
…
At dawn, the sounds of chickens crowing and birds singing could be heard.
Then, a burst of drumming sounds spread out.
It was the salt inspector beating the drum to remind the salt farmers to get up and go to work.
Ning An woke up in the thatched hut.
The thatched house has very poor sound insulation, and you can hear everything outside clearly.
It was still early, and Ning An could already hear people walking outside one after another, and heard Douzi cooking over a fire in the fenced yard.
Ning An stayed at Douzi's house for a few days and had a better understanding of Douzi's situation.
Douzi's family only had two thatched houses. Ning An lived in one, and Douzi and his grandmother lived in the other.
There was no way to light a fire in the house, and we could only cook in a pot in the yard.
There are many villages along the Jiezhou Salt Lake, all of which are villages with mixed surnames, and almost all of them have been salt households for generations.
The same goes for Douzi’s family.
Douzi's parents are gone, and he only has his grandmother to depend on.
But no one knows how long they will be together.
"Axiang, are you awake? It's time to eat." Douzi's voice came from outside.
Ning An just happened to put on his clothes and walked out.
Douzi was a little anxious: "Axiang, I'm a little late today. I have to hurry to the salt pond. But my grandma's medicine is not ready yet."
Ning An nodded: "You go quickly, I'll come."
"Sorry to trouble you." Douzi hurried out.
Ning An looked at Douzi's small body running away, and was surprised that Douzi had the energy to be busy from morning to night.
Ning An scooped a bowl of porridge from the pot and drank it while watching the medicine cooking on the small stove next to him.
The boiled medicine does not smell pleasant. The bitter smell mixed with the salty and damp smell in the wind makes people feel that the medicine tastes even more bitter.
"Grandma Douzi, the medicine is here." Ning An brought the medicine into another thatched hut.
She had never served tea or water before, but she felt that it was not difficult to do. At least it was easier than the homework assigned by Tutor Zhang or practicing martial arts with General Yuan.
A pale, thin woman propped up her upper body on the bed and smiled:
"Oh, cough cough... Ah Xiang, cough cough..."
Grandma Douzi is not very old, only in her forties.
But Ning An discovered that very few people in this village lived beyond the age of forty without any illness or disaster.
Grandma Douzi is also sick, and it seems that she has more than one disease.
She was always coughing up blood, and she also had problems with her back, making it difficult for her to even get out of bed and walk.
The day before yesterday, a doctor came to see Grandma Douzi and prescribed some medicine.
Taking medicine is a very bitter and painful thing, but Douzi and Grandma are very happy.
Because not everyone can take medicine when they are sick, and treating illness is a luxury expense.
Grandma Douzi drank the medicine in one breath:
"Ah Xiang, Douzi told me that it's all thanks to you... that we were able to hire a doctor... Otherwise, cough cough... how would we have the money to hire a doctor..."
Ning An felt a little embarrassed when he heard this: "It was thanks to Douzi that he saved me and brought me back from the foot of the mountain."
Saving her life was a great favor, but they only got a small bead from her underwear and regarded her as their benefactor.
Ning An came out of Grandma Douzi's room, looked at the water tank in the yard, and saw the scar on his left cheek reflected in the water in a crooked shape.
She thought it was okay. Although it was not good-looking, it would not scare people when she walked out.
So Ning An went to the salt pond by the lake to look for beans.
Other families go to the salt pond with several members of the family, but Douzi is the only one in his family.
The colorful salt lake looks beautiful from a distance, but the people working in the salt mine by the lake are not beautiful.
There are large and small salt ponds beside the salt lake, and the salt ponds are full of busy figures bent over.
Everyone is very thin and has dark skin.
In comparison, the not-so-dark-skinned girl looks two shades whiter than the others.
The brine in the salt pond had a metallic luster. Douzi stepped into the cold brine barefoot, stirring the brine with a fir rake in his hand.
The wooden rake handle is wrapped with linen to prevent it from rubbing your palms.
"Douzi, let me help you." Ning An found Douzi by a salt pond.
Douzi looked up in surprise, beads of sweat dripping down his face:
"A Xiang, why are you here? Go back. This place is dirty and smells bad. It will bother you."
Ning An refused to go back and made an excuse: "I don't know how to cook. I'll help you. Once I finish the work early, you can go back and cook."
After hearing this, Douzi didn't say anything.
As the sun grew stronger, the brine evaporated and formed a layer of salt crystals.
Ning'an and Douzi squatted in the salt pond, scraping up the salt grains with wooden shovels and piling them into salt piles. They then put the salt into bamboo baskets or sacks.
Ning An had suffered a lot when she was practicing shooting as a child, and she had a strong physique. She was definitely not a delicate and weak lady.
But after scraping the salt crystals for a while, she felt a little sore all over, and the sun made her back hot.
There is still unevaporated brine in the salt pond. If your fingers are exposed to the brine for a long time, they will become irritated and swollen.
Douzi whispered to Ning An:
"Ah Xiang, we've already exchanged half of our things. Once we've exchanged the rest, maybe we can buy a donkey or a mule. But the donkey dealers haven't been to town recently, so we might have to wait another half a month."
Douzi scraped the salt off skillfully and spoke with excitement.
She usually works alone, and now Ah Xiang is here to help. Although it’s almost the same as not helping, the feeling of having someone to work with is different.
Ning An looked at Douzi's hand.
Douzi's hands were very thin, with rough knuckles and skin covered with brown scabs.
Daily contact with brine, the irritation from the brine and exposure to the scorching sun can cause skin cracking, which is common.
A pile of salt has been piled up around the beans.
Even though Ning An had never cooked before, she knew that this was a lot of salt, and she also knew that salt was not cheap.
If so much salt could be scraped out of beans every day, we wouldn't be so poor.
Ning An spoke bluntly: "Douzi, how much can you get from selling this salt?"
Douzi wiped the sweat from his forehead with his elbow:
"This salt cannot be sold for money. It must be handed over to the government."
Ning An's hand holding the wooden shovel froze for a moment:
"What do you mean? You worked so hard to get this salt, but you can't make any money?"
Douzi pulled Ning An and asked her to speak more quietly:
"This is the salt tax, and the government will collect it. Only after the salt tax is paid can the salt be sold for money."
Douzi explained it to Ning An in detail again.
Ning An understood that they had to hand over one third of the salt they produced to the government free of charge.
"What about the remaining two-thirds? That can make a lot of money, right?" Ning An asked.
Bean puts the salt pile into the sack:
"The remaining salt can only be sold to the government. We have to sell it at the same price the government pays. We can't sell it to anyone else. Selling private salt is a serious crime, and most people in our village don't dare to do it."
Ning An: "How much does the government charge you for your salt?"
Beans: "Ten coins a dou."
"So cheap!" Ning An's eyebrows flew up, "Then why do people outside say salt is expensive?"
Douzi stared at Ning An for a while, and really realized that Ning An was a young lady who didn't know the cost of food and clothing:
"Salt is very expensive. Official salt costs 120 coins a bushel, and we can't afford it."
The salty and damp wind blew into Ning An's collar.
The wooden spatula slipped from her hand.
By the colorful lake, Ning An opened his mouth in shock, but couldn't utter a word for a long time.
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