Liang Chuan actually came to the most expensive shop on Guangyuan Street to ask questions.
Ah Yue didn't expect that Liang Chuan would actually come to ask about the price of salt. Is there anyone in Guangnan who doesn't know how expensive salt is? Although she is young, she has become the head of the family early. Whenever Anon is not at home, she has to support herself, buy rice, meat, salt and vegetables. How can she not know how expensive salt is?
Aren't you really a fool?
Aren’t the Miao family the same as selling expensive salt?
Looking at Liang Chuan's look, the question was still genuine, and it didn't seem like a joke. The shopkeeper was also good-tempered, and the private salt dealers were not ordinary people. They were either local snakes or big businessmen. They had no ability since ancient times and were treated as such. There is no qualified private salt dealer!
In the late Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao was just a private salt dealer.
He almost brought down the entire Tang Empire by himself! Later, Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng were also born in this industry, and they were top picks in their professions, especially in the private salt industry.
When Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, was able to conquer the world, one of the most important things was to acquire Guanzhong, farmland, Zigong, and well salt. This was the economic support to ensure that his military group would continue to move!
An important method used by the Song Dynasty court to manage the southern barbarians was to control various important materials.
These materials, such as medicinal materials, tea, salt and various minerals, although many of them are produced in the south, as long as one or two of them are controlled, these ethnic minorities in the south will suffer endlessly!
The best and most effective way to control it is to control it with salt.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong was the first to let Qi dominate. His method was very simple and crude, that is, boiling the sea into salt. With salt and iron, Qi would be strong! It’s just that Qi does not have the foundation of a great country. After Qin also discovers salt in Guanzhong, they will have no advantage and can only become a powerful country, but not the most powerful country. :
There are only a few ways to produce salt. The largest and most productive one is the salt field on the seaside. This is something that these inland ethnic groups do not have!
Salt is produced in several places today.
One is that there is also Yungui in Sichuan. There is well salt here, and there is ham near the well salt. They are all first-class good ingredients.
There is sea salt in Jianghuai, which is the lifeblood of people in the world.
There are salt lakes above Dangxiang and Tubo. This is a gift from God to them. Otherwise, they would never have the conditions to challenge the Song Dynasty. The green salt in the hands of party members is also very valuable. Legend has it that the Tibetan people still have a kind of pink salt, but it has not been on the market for many years.
Selling salt in Guangnan is not an easy task!
The imperial court established salt stamps.
It’s not that everyone who wants to buy salt has to implement a rationing system like buying grain with food stamps, but the court issues salt stamps to salt sellers, and only those who have the tickets can sell salt! Moreover, if ordinary people want to buy salt, they must go to these formal places with formalities. Otherwise, they will be regarded as smuggling private salt, and they are guilty of the same crime.
The slightest case may be to chop off the feet, the more serious case may be to decapitate the head.
The system for managing salt is much stricter than managing people!
A country has many ways to manage its people. Now, for example, childbirth. In the early days, there was also population planning. A small village committee had the power of life and death over a family! Later, there were various reviews, including education, medical insurance, social security, land, and housing construction. Any one of them could be accurately grasped to the last seven inches. The common people had to obey the imperial court.
But in the past, this was not the case.
There are only four necessary conditions for ordinary people to survive, including food, clothing, housing and transportation.
There must be salt in your food!
The common people had nowhere to get except salt and iron, and they could basically be self-sufficient in other things.
In other words, if these two things are not taken care of, the common people will not take half a dime from the imperial court!
Guangnan here is more special than other places.
In the current Zhao Zhen dynasty, the court was the most stringent in salt rationing in the two places!
One is Xixia. The Song Dynasty and Xixia have been at war for many years, so it is impossible to sell such strategic materials to them, but Xixia people have their own salt.
There is a lot of salt in the salt paste in the Qaidam Basin in the northwest. This salt does not even need to be purified, it is just the best quality!
Another place is Guangnan.
The reason why Guangnan is poor is that people's money is not used to buy rice. Rice is not expensive, but salt is expensive! Moreover, the imperial court refused to issue them more salt coupons, and if they did, they were in several important places such as Yongzhou. You can't go to Yongzhou again just to eat salt.
Liang Chuan never looked wealthy from the beginning to the end, especially when he was lame on one leg. Anyone doing business was afraid that this person was here to beg for food!
Boss Yan smiled at Liang Chuan. What he was selling was the face of the little girl behind him, Ah Yue. He also knew that this little girl was from the chieftain's house!
Otherwise, when it comes to Miao people, he doesn't even bother to look at them with his nostrils.
The Miao people are a vulnerable group and marginalized among the ethnic minorities in Southwest China. For thousands of years, their voice has been extremely small and their status is also very low.
He didn't know why the Miao people came to Guangyuan, and he didn't bother to know, but he had to support them if they got in touch with the chieftain of the Tusi Mansion!
"Boss, how do you sell this salt?"
How to sell salt? The boss was startled, you guys are here to amuse me, right? The price of salt is very "transparent", even the little girl A Yue knows, don't you usually buy salt, don't you know the price!
Boss Yan looked at Liang Chuan for a few times. This kid was covered in muscles. Many scars were exposed on his body. One of his legs was broken. He looked like he had been killed in a fight. He was a ruthless character! This man's height is also terrifying. There may not be anyone stronger than him in Guangyuan Prefecture. With such a body, few people may be his opponent in a fight, even if he breaks a leg!
Liang Chuan's very unreasonable inquiry, coupled with the evil smile on his face, the boss seemed to suddenly understand something. Okay, it turns out that he was not confused, but he pretended to be confused because he wanted to make a fortune!
He thought Liang Chuan wanted to blackmail him, and it depends on whether the boss can get on the road. If the price quoted is high, trouble will come. If the price quoted is low, then he will suffer the consequences!
After all, he couldn't afford to offend the Tusi Mansion!
But after all, the boss of this dealer is an old man. He sells private salt. He has been living a life of licking blood with the tip of a knife. He never knows when his head will be lost. Moreover, he knows that his relationship with the Tusi Mansion is not bad. Logically speaking, The Tusi Mansion will not go out of its way to embarrass him!
He also smiled and pretended to be confused, and said to Liang Chuan: "This guy is really good at joking. The salt we sell is clearly marked with a price. We have been innocent for decades, so why are we asking about the price?"
At this time, Ah Yue interjected: "This man broke his head. I told him that salt is more expensive than meat, but he didn't believe it. He insisted on asking me to take him to see it, huh!"
Ha, and these idiots?
Boss Yan felt happy when he saw it. He was relieved that he was not here to ruin his business!
When he saw Liang Chuan acting like this, he looked like he had fallen, so he patiently explained to Liang Chuan.
"Brother, which kind of salt is more expensive?"
Liang Chuan took one look and said, "Of course it is!"
He was referring to the green salt of Xixia.
The grains of this salt are relatively uniform at first glance, and the salt color is the most beautiful. The price will definitely not be low.
The salt boss gave Liang Chuan a thumbs up and said, "That's right, you really have a good eye. This is the green salt imported from Xixia. I only have twenty kilograms here every year, and one kilogram costs three hundred cents!"
Three hundred coins!
The price of rice is only a few dollars per kilogram, but this hanging thing costs three hundred yuan per kilogram!
Qing Salt Liang Chuan had heard that in Dream of Red Mansions, the prodigal Jia Baoyu used this green salt to brush his teeth! This salt is extracted and sun-dried from the salt lakes in Qinghai. It contains many trace elements and can also be used as medicine. It can sterilize, reduce swelling, and cure bleeding teeth and tongue. Naturally, the price is high!
Why did Xixia dare to confront the Song Dynasty? They were not impulsive, but they also had their own reliance!
The fortress in the south of the Yangtze River guarantees their food, the Hetao Plain guarantees their horses, and the Salt Lake guarantees their salt. Apart from tea, they already have the ability to be self-sufficient, so what else is there to fear!
The rich people in the Song Dynasty needed this kind of salt. They secretly smuggled this salt from Xixia for brushing teeth and eating. It was precisely because of these people in the Song Dynasty that the price was driven up!
This kind of salt is found in Xixia
The cost of bringing it up was only five cents, and the cost of smuggling it into the Song Dynasty was only ten times higher! But when you get to Guangnan, the prices skyrocket! Not many people in Guangnan can afford it, so these salt bosses don’t smuggle much!
"What about these salts?"
"This is well salt, from Sichuan. The price is one hundred cents per catty!"
Liang Chuan was shocked, why was the price so different?
The salt boss looked at Ah Yue's little face and patiently introduced each type of salt to this fool, explaining their effects and why they were expensive!
Anyway, it's just idle time, and he doesn't waste any money!
Liang Chuan looked incredulous when he heard that the price of salt could be so high!
What the hell, green salt costs three hundred cents per catty, well salt costs one hundred cents, and sea salt from the beach costs tens of cents more. Who the hell can afford this!
But I heard from the boss that everyone eats sea salt shipped from Qinzhou. There is nothing I can do about it. The quality of the salt is not good and it has an astringent taste. But the price is already the lowest, costing more than 60 cents per pound. One kilogram of salt is enough for a family to eat for several months. If you do the math, you can still survive!
Sure enough, salt is more expensive than meat, so everyone has no objection?
It seems that there are still more obedient people in this world!
Liang Chuan finally stared at a pile of blackened salt and asked the salt boss, "Then what's the price of this salt?"
The salt boss smiled and said: "Oh, these, these are for livestock. Horses and donkeys also need salt. They come from Xixia. This kind of salt is cheap!"
"How cheap!"
"A pound is only five cents!"
Liang Chuan took a look and saw that there was no salt here. It was clearly soil powder. It was black and black. It was only eaten by animals. It was sold for five cents a pound. It was so damn black!
Liang Chuan shook his head. It was said that the Song Dynasty was a paradise for ancient people, but it seems that this is not necessarily the case. People living in this place had to hand over all their wealth to eat salt, and even the money they earned was not enough to buy salt. Is this the way people live?
