After waiting for a long time, the goods were finally shipped away, and there were still several large piles of goods left on the dock. These goods are ready to be shipped to Japan. Due to the strong winds and waves at sea, experienced captains must be responsible for the cargo on sea-going ships. However, this is done by computers in modern times.
By evening, the cargo on the dock was finally cleared. At this time, Zhang Liuwang came over accompanied by two tax collectors. Behind the tax collector were six men dressed in strong suits. These laborers are also personnel belonging to the tax department. They are responsible for following the tax collectors to carry goods and count the quantities.
When Liu Haojia saw them coming, he asked the people around him to disperse, and he pretended to be nothing and walked over like an idle guy. Fortunately, although there were far fewer people on the pier at this time, there were still many people watching the excitement, so he was not conspicuous by himself. Read the book
As soon as he saw the appearance of the tax collector in front of him, he couldn't help but frown! He was in his forties, with a dark complexion and a long scar on his face that ran from his forehead to his left eye to his chin. As expected, the left eye was blind!
Moreover, he was lame on one leg and walked unsteadily. Moreover, his figure was loose, as if he could not stand straight at all. The official uniform looked like a sack on his body, which was not what he thought at all. The retired veteran looks like a bandit who stole all his clothes!
Then Liu Haojia remembered that it was his idea for this kind of tax collector to appear here, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter!
You know, people who live on land all year round have no idea how much their goods will be worth if transferred overseas? If taxes were imposed on ordinary goods, those merchants would almost laugh out loud! So in order to solve this problem, Liu Haojia simply selected a group of old bandits among the pirates who often ran to sea, and promised them formal positions so that they could be used by the government.
With a long-term source of pay and official status, these pirates who were familiar with overseas situations immediately agreed! They know the price of the goods to overseas, and there won’t be much error in their estimation of the value.
Next to the old tax collector was a young man, who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was holding a pen and paper and followed the old tax collector step by step. It can be seen from his serious expression that this is a young man who has just been on duty!
Several people arrived at the cargo pile and circled around the cargo. The old tax collector also looked at the ships, and then said to Zhang Liuwang: "Are the two ships on the far left of the pier going to Japan?"
Zhang Liuwang raised his thumb and said, "You have good eyesight, you can see it at a glance!"
The old tax collector laughed "hehe" twice, but did not accept his compliment. Instead, he directly said to Lifu behind him: "Chen Dazhuang, Wang San, you two each get on a boat, go to the bottom warehouse and see what's on top."
The young tax collector next to him said curiously: "Fourth brother, aren't the bottom cabins filled with ballast stones? What else can be installed? Also, how did you see that?"
The old tax collector laughed strangely and said: "Xiao Liuzi, I'm telling you, what he loaded on the ship must not be ballast stones, but heavy cargo! As for how to tell, those two ships sank half a piece more than the other ships. Plank!"
The young tax collector's eyes lit up and he opened his mouth and said, "Is it gold and silver?"
As soon as he said this, several people around him burst into laughter! Especially the old tax collector laughed so hard that he said after laughing: "What are you thinking? I have only seen people bring gold and silver into the port, but have I ever seen anyone bring gold and silver out?"
Zhang Liuwang, who was next to him, was smiling and was about to speak when the old tax collector raised his hand and said, "Zhang Bantou, don't say anything yet. Let me, your fourth brother, guess what it is! It's mercury, right?"
The young tax collector immediately looked at Zhang Boutou, who immediately handed over his head and said: "Fourth brother has good eyesight! The cabin is indeed full of mercury! When going to the sea, we need ballast stones. I thought that mercury is heavy and can be sold as goods, so why not The warehouse is filled with mercury! And this mercury is also written on the tax return paperwork!"
The young tax rate opened the document and flipped through it twice and said, "Fourth brother, there is really a customs declaration form for mercury in it! It says 480 jars of mercury. The market price of each jar is one tael, so the tax should be 48 taels!"
Liu Haojia took a peek and saw that Zhang Liuwang's expression was slightly stiff, so he guessed that the mercury was probably a little fishy! But he didn't know the reason, so he pricked up his ears even more to listen!
The old pirate said with a smile: "Xiao Liuzi, don't worry! We'll talk about it later when the three brothers come back!"
After everyone waited for a while, the two people who got on the boat ran back. The first person said: "Fourth Master, there are jars in the bottom warehouse. I touched them and they were very heavy! And they were fixed with partitions! They were just sealed. It’s very tight, and I didn’t get the order, so I didn’t dare to open it and look at it!”
At this time, the old tax collector turned to Zhang Liuwang and said with a smile: "Brother Zhang, what's the matter? Do you want me to tell you something?"
Zhang Liuwang smiled bitterly and cupped his hands and said, "Fourth brother, it's up to you! It's a brother's fault!"
The young tax collector knew there was something wrong with this. He must have been fooled. He immediately pulled the old tax collector and said, "Fourth brother, fourth brother, what is going on?"
The old tax collector laughed strangely twice and then said: "Xiao Liuzi, I'll teach you, this mercury is not rare in our Ming Dynasty, you can get it everywhere! But mercury production is scarce in Japan, so this thing can be sold at a high price in Japan! Xiaoli! Liuzi, how much do you think this thing can be sold for in Japan?"
Xiao Liuzi tilted his head and thought for a while and said: "The booklet that was distributed a while ago said that ordinary items can be sold for about three times the profit. So a jar of mercury can be sold for about three taels, right?"
The old tax collector chuckled and said, "What the hell! I can sell it for seven or eight taels!"
This time, not only Xiao Liuzi was surprised, but also the few Lifu around him were shocked! When they looked at Zhang Liuwang with disbelief, they saw a resigned smile on his face, and they knew that what the old tax collector said was true!
The young tax collector angrily tapped Zhang Liuwang with his hand, and then said: "Fourth brother, tell me, how can this mercury be sold so expensive? Could it be that it turned into silver when it arrived in Japan?"
The old tax collector said with a proud look on his face: "It's almost the same! Do you know what the mercury was used for? It's used to refine silver! Without this mercury, a furnace of silver would lose more than 30% of the silver, so it's It’s so expensive!”
After hearing the explanation, the young tax collector was furious and said to Zhang Liuwang: "You are such a good leader, you actually do these things to fool us. Do you think all of us are fools?"
Zhang Liuwang repeatedly raised his hands and said, "Don't be surprised, little brother, I will never do such a thing next time!"
