Jiangshan led the mule straight to the restaurant and asked the waiter if they would accept wild game. The waiter took them to the kitchen to talk to the chef.
Jiangshan understood now that he had to use the back door from now on.
Life in the countryside is tough right now, with fewer people coming to town, and restaurants worried about attracting customers. While these few wild animals are a tad less, they're better than nothing.
Finally, he gave the two brothers 280 coins to buy the rabbit and the pheasant.
They had never sold wild animals before, so they didn't know whether the price was high or low, but it was a little more than they had expected.
The two of them went to the clinic again. The weather was unusual, and many people were sick. As expected, the clinic was short on medicine, and they even wanted unprocessed medicine, which cost three cents more than before. Unfortunately, the creeping vines were so light that they didn't need to be weighed. A full basket weighed only three or two pounds.
However, the Poria they found was big, which gave the two brothers some comfort.
The medicinal herbs were sold for a total of 390 coins.
The shopkeeper had settled the bill and was about to leave when Jiang Shan stopped him and said, pursing his lips, "We have a live wild animal and would like you to take a look at it to see if it can be used as medicine."
The restaurant had refused to accept it, saying it was inedible meat. They were disappointed, but Jiangshan still wanted to give it a try. It was so heavy, he couldn't have carried it down the mountain in vain.
When the shopkeeper saw what was in the basket, he was surprised, "It's a badger." It's quite fat.
Badger meat is not very tasty, but it is rich in fat and can be made into badger oil, which is good for treating stomach problems and frostbite. Some families who can't afford good fur will peel badger skins and make scarves, which are also very warm.
The shopkeeper didn't even weigh them. "Two taels of silver each, is that okay?"
The two brothers looked happy and nodded repeatedly, "Okay."
Seeing that the badger had bitten through the rope and was still very wild, Jiangshan gave it to the shopkeeper along with the basket.
Seeing that they were honest, the shopkeeper asked them if they were going to use the money from the sale to buy grain.
They both nodded.
He reminded me, "Grain prices change every two days, and they're getting more expensive. If you want to buy grain, buy it now. There's a limit on household registration, not the number of people. You two brothers can queue up together, and each can buy a maximum of two dou of grain."
The two were shocked and quickly thanked the shopkeeper before rushing to the grain store to buy some food. There wasn't a long line outside the store, but registering was a hassle, so they waited for over half an hour before they could finally get in.
"One bushel of soybeans and one bushel of black flour."
This black flour is the coarse flour that has not been sifted cleanly and is mixed with wheat bran. It is yellow in color and tastes choking. It is not as smooth as white flour.
After paying three hundred coins, the two men lined up in one house and then went to another, and finally left the city before sunset.
It was dark when they were halfway through their journey. The road was difficult to walk on at night, so they were more cautious than in the morning.
I didn't get home until the end of the hour of Hai (10 o'clock in the evening).
The neighbors next door were still muttering that the village chief's family was really hardworking, working hard from dawn to dusk, no wonder they had enough money to buy a mule.
Should their lazy son also be driven out to earn money?
The village chief coaxed the children to sleep, and the adults all went to the main room to leave food for the two of them.
The village chief looked at the bags of grain, which were not even full, and asked, "Why are you buying so little?"
Jiang San answered while eating, "The grain store won't let one person buy too much. Each store only allows one person to buy two dou per day. We don't have enough time, so we have to queue up at two stores."
"What's the price of grain today?"
"Beans have gone up by two cents, and black flour has gone up by three cents. Dad, you don't know, white flour has gone up by six cents, we don't even dare to look at it!"
Wow——
White flour was originally expensive, 12 wen per liter, but now it has increased by half to 16 wen per liter, and 180 wen per dou!
Has it increased so much now?
The village chief's heart sank. Wouldn't the price increase even more after paying the tax?
"Did you make enough money from selling today?"
"Dad!" He suddenly raised his voice, scaring the village chief.
"Why are you so startled?"
"Today, I sold herbs, poria cocos, rabbits, and pheasants for a total of 670 coins."
"so much?"
"Do you know how much that wild animal you despised cost?"
The village chief couldn't stand his smug look, so he asked his eldest son to speak directly.
Jiangshan smiled and poured out the money in his purse, and there was actually a small silver coin!
"That's called a badger. It can be used as medicine. One is two taels of silver!"
The village chief stood up suddenly!
Others covered their mouths!
No wonder Jiang Yue bought a mule and a house in the capital without saying a word! Hunters make money!
Jiang San pulled his eldest brother's arm, his heart burning with passion, "Brother, we'll go to the mountains again tomorrow. Let's be careful and don't be afraid of danger!"
"Um!"
The village chief nodded and said, "Next time we go to the city, we must bring your wives with us and buy more food!"
Unfortunately, the next day, before they could enter the mountains, the village head came with his men and dealt the villagers a heavy blow - the taxes remained the same, not a penny less.
The village chief pursed his lips and agreed. Although he was mentally prepared, he still felt a chill in his heart.
The villagers were crying and wailing. In previous years, disaster victims were exempted from taxes, and even if they weren't exempted, they would be appropriately reduced. Why is it that this year, they don't care about the lives of the people? This new county magistrate is too cruel!
The soldier in charge of collecting the grain was a burly man, his broadsword slung across his chest. His face was dark as he roared, "This tax wasn't set by the county magistrate! The magistrate is understanding and won't let you brave the rain to pay the tax. How dare you be so ungrateful? Anyone who dares not pay will be brought to the yamen immediately!"
Suddenly no one dared to cry or howl.
The people who collected the grain set up a shed at the entrance of the village, and there were also people guarding the end of the village.
At first, no one dared to step out, and everyone stayed at home. The adult was impatient and said, "If you make me wait any longer, I'll tell you in front of you that next year's taxes... well, that's not going to be easy."
Everyone was shocked and dared not speak out of anger. They could only take out the food from their homes.
"This food is not good, it's wet, change it!"
"Sir, the weather is bad, it won't dry!"
"I don't care about that. If you don't change it, I'll write you down in the book and pretend you never paid the tax. This bag will also be confiscated..."
The village chief lowered his head and clenched his fists, but he had no choice. A higher-ranking official could crush anyone, and for the common people, as long as they worked for the officials, regardless of whether they held an official position or not, they could be crushed to death with just a flick of their fingers.
"This food is moldy, change it!"
"This grain is not enough, add more!"
......
After the people who came to collect the grain left, the village looked like it had been looted.
Everyone collapsed to the ground, crying loudly.
The village chief returned home, closed the door, and beat his chest, thinking what an unfair world!
Their family paid half the taxes and half the silver, and half of their wealth was gone. You can imagine that the situation of other families was even worse.
There were two families that really couldn't pay the debt, so they sold their daughters to be servants for the rest of their lives...
Jiang Shan grabbed his father's hand, shaking with anger, "Dad, don't be sad. Tomorrow, the third brother and I will go up the mountain!"
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