Director Dou, who had been groveling just now, suddenly seemed to have grown a bone after seeing the director. He frowned and said impatiently: "What is such a big deal that we have to talk about it now?"
Xu Dai laughed when he heard this and tilted his head to the other side, as if he was looking at the scenery in the distance.
Why did the field Ding say: "The field director said that if we catch that bitch Ding Er, we must send him to you and let him be punished!"
When Director Dou heard [Little Ding Erxiao]'s name, his eyes instantly lit up: "What? You said you caught Little Erxiao Ding?"
Na Jian Ding said excitedly: "That's right, this bitch sneaked home to see his blind mother and sister. Our people happened to see him and blocked him at home. He injured five or six of us before we caught him!"
Director Dou nodded repeatedly when he heard this: "Okay, okay! Go, put him in the water cell first, and then go check it out after I'm done with it!"
Nanchang Ding nodded and bowed in agreement, bowed to Xu Dai a few more times, and then walked backwards.
After the group of people suppressed Little Ding and left, Chief Dou had his bones taken away again, and said with a smile: "Forgive me, Mr. Chang Yue, but there are too many things going on in this salt field, which have disturbed your purity!"
It is said that there are three hardships in the world: cooking the stove, forging iron, and grinding tofu.
Xu Dai naturally knew that there were many escapees from Zao Ding. This kind of thing had long been common in the salt field, so he didn't take it seriously. He just smiled and walked towards Dou's house accompanied by Director Dou.
After entering the salt field, Xu Dai rarely saw houses with bricks and tiles, but when he arrived at Dou's house, he was really surprised. Dou's house was a courtyard with five entrances. Although there were no carved beams and painted pillars, it was still a different world after entering.
Clumps of flowers and plants, rows of rockeries, verandahs running through them, stone-carved window frames and door openings, to use a word from later generations, it is really low-key luxury.
Xu Dai thought about it. The Dou family has been running the tea business for four generations, and they became prosperous even earlier than the Xu family. It is true that the Xu family has a great business, but when it comes to taking root in the countryside and amassing wealth, the Xu family said Maybe he can't catch up with the Dou family.
The banquet was arranged in the front yard. Xu Dai was invited into the hall and given a hot towel. He wiped his face first, and then a group of descendants of the Dou family came to see him.
After Xu Dai dealt with them one by one, the servants of the Dou family served tea. After taking a few sips, he put down the teacup and said to everyone in the hall: "These are all tea brewers...?"
Director Dou quickly introduced: "This is such-and-such a kitchen head, and he has as many kitchen workers as his subordinates! This is such-and-such security guard, and he controls as many kitchen households as he wants."
Xu Dai also had some knowledge about the Lianghuai Salt Industry before setting off, and knew the methods used by the salt field to control the kitchen workers.
Zao Ding is usually in the early years of the dynasty, and the defeated local powerful families are classified as Zao, and their families are allowed to produce salt in the salt field for generations.
Later, because many Zao Ding fled, the imperial court gave each salt farm the confidence to recruit surrounding poor households and exiled people.
In the 18th year of the Zhengzheng Period, the imperial court once counted the number of kitchen workers in each salt field.
Among them, there are more than 66,000 Zaoding smokers in the Lianghuai Salt Farm. Later, after additional recruitment, the total number of Zaoding smokers increased to 600,000.
That is to say, there are more than 600,000 households in Lianghuai alone engaged in salt production.
With so many people gathered in one place, the court was naturally worried, so the court set up ambassadors, commonly known as farm directors, at each salt farm, as well as a deputy envoy and a number of soldiers.
The ambassador is under the jurisdiction of the Yansi Yamen. Because he is not a high-ranking official, the ambassador and deputy envoys are almost hereditary.
But even so, the court was still worried, so it set up a Baojia system and a compilation and investigation method on the scene.
All the county and field bureaus in every state ordered them to set up Baojia to audit each other. When they encountered someone selling illegal salt, Baojia would rush to take the lead. In this way, the money earned from illegal salt, after deducting the cost and national taxes, was left. It can be rewarded to the person who takes the lead in protecting the armor.
In Bao Jia in the field, the ten cards are the cards, the cards have the head, the ten cards are the armor, the armor has the length of the armor, the ten armors are the guarantee, and the guarantee is the right.
In this way, there are the field director and the kitchen leaders who control the kitchen men, and there are Baozheng, Jia Chang, and Pai Tou who control the family members of the kitchen men. It can be said that there are eyes everywhere in the whole field. If you want to cause trouble, actually Very difficult.
But there are policies from above and countermeasures from below.
Because the ability of Zao households to withstand natural disasters is even lower than that of farmers, and the exploitation of merchants, market leaders, stove owners, and the court is heavy, and cooking stoves and boiling salt is still a dangerous job, so there have always been many Zao households fleeing.
It doesn't matter if there is no Zaoding. Anyway, there have been very few long-lasting wars in the border areas in recent years, so the Kaizhong method exists in name only. The court issues less salt, and the salt field does not need to be operated at full capacity to dry salt.
These Zao Ding fled with them.
Someone asked, if the demand is reduced, then the salt farm will not make money.
No, the decrease in demand is only official. In fact, as the population increases, the demand for salt among the people is increasing.
However, the overstaffed court still gave so many salt inducements, which naturally gave rise to the birth of private salt.
Take tea tea as an example. From the Dou family down, everyone sitting in the hall now is a local private salt dealer.
As for the private salt dealers who were caught and beheaded by the court, they were all unlucky ones with no background.
Even the security chief and farm director were involved in smuggling smuggled salt, so the bullshit Baojia system naturally existed in name only.
Then someone asked again, should the salt earned by the hard work of the cooks be allowed to be exploited by these people? They won't file a lawsuit?
Yes, but matters in the field are not under the jurisdiction of the local government. If you, a Zao citizen, file a complaint, you can only file a complaint with the Yansi Yamen.
The Yansi Yamen has long been flooded with money from these people. For ordinary kitchen workers to complain, it is like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth.
Xu Dai politely greeted the local gangsters who decided the life and death of the cook at the tea farm one by one, and then began to tell the purpose of the tea trip.
"I am here this time to tell you something good!"
Director Dou lowered his head and said nothing when he heard this. He used his peripheral vision to exchange glances with the tea drinkers in the hall.
Xu Dai didn't notice it and smiled again: "Actually, that's what happened..."
He told you about You Xiao's desire to acquire the Lianghuai Salt Fields, especially about the ten private salt fields in Huaizhong. Of course, he did not mention You Xiao's promise that he would be able to serve as a judge in the Shandong Salt Division in the future. He only said that it was a substitute for For the sake of everyone in Kuancha, they specially arranged this matter.
Everyone heard that the private salt they were selling was now going to be taken under the royal family, and they immediately started whispering among themselves.
Chief Dou pondered for a moment and smiled: "Mr. Chang Yue, this is because the emperor is sympathetic to our difficulties. This is a good thing!"
Xu Dai smiled awkwardly: "Yes, yes, but, this...the price of salt is going to be higher!"
Everyone in the tea shop, who had been beaming with joy just now, suddenly became suffocated upon hearing this.
"I dare to ask Mr. Chang Yue, how low is it?" One of the stoves asked directly.
Xu Dai stretched out the [six] gesture and said: "Six cents of silver per pound!"
"What?" The stove stood up with a cry: "Liu Li? Are you kidding me? If you are still paying for Liu Li, who would do such a stupid thing!"
