After traversing tall mountains and steep ridges, it took them about seven or eight days to finally arrive at what was called a salt field.
Jiang Xiaoxiao saw the salt field and imdiately understood that the salt produced here should be well salt.
Because this region was not near the sea, it couldn’t possibly produce sea salt.
Well salt was also very rare.
They reached their destination.
Yang Tieniu and Li Dawang sought out the salt boss they were familiar with. Underneath these extended salt fields, there were many small leaders, each holding so connections.
Of course, they were these illicit salt traders.
How could they survive by relying solely on these salt field bosses?
So salt fields were private, selling salt to the governnt made them little money, but selling to these illicit traders was quite profitable.
Of course, they had made arrangents, and the governnt deliberately turned a blind eye. As long as they were well-bribed, the governnt would not care much about their activities.
Jiang Xiaoxiao went with Li Tieniu, while Lin Dawang and they were looking for a different person, so everyone pursued their own contacts.
Jiang Xiaoxiao and Li Tieniu t the salt boss.
A man around forty, with a goatee, eyes downcast, was loading tobacco into a pipe.
Li Tieniu hurriedly stepped forward to pay respects.
"Mr. Li, haven’t seen you lately, you look even more spirited."
The salt boss, Mr. Li, didn’t even look up, obviously very familiar with Li Tieniu, recognizing him just by his voice.
"Tieniu, you’re here? I heard you ran into trouble last ti on the road!"
It wasn’t just a rumor; he was certain.
Li Tieniu gave an awkward smile.
"Mr. Li, we encountered bandits, lost many brothers. This ti we want to bring in another batch of goods; please lend a hand."
He offered five taels of fragnted Silver.
Mr. Li didn’t accept it; this made Li Tieniu wary, as not accepting Silver was a bad sign.
"Tieniu, how much Silver worth of goods are you planning to bring in this ti? To be honest, recently a lot has changed at our salt field. The new boss made it clear that now a salt draw has increased by one tael of Silver, and a minimum of two hundred taels worth of goods is required to dispatch, otherwise no loose goods are allowed to be distributed.
We’ve known each other for a long ti, from your father to your brother and you, but now business is hard. You need to be prepared. If you’re okay with the increase of one tael of Silver and can prepare 200 taels for goods. Business is business."
Li Tieniu was shocked, "Uncle Li, how can one jin increase by so much? An increase of one tael of Silver leaves us with almost no profit. We’re just earning a pittance. And now with two hundred taels of goods, you know the situation in our village.
The last batch was almost a complete loss; the villagers barely scraped together 50 taels this ti. If you really do this, then wouldn’t we be...
Uncle Li, we beg you, please offer a little help here."
Mr. Li waved his hand, "It’s not that I don’t want to help, none of you are living easy lives. I’m not secure in my position either, looking at the arrival of the new boss, they can replace people anyti, so don’t make it hard for ."
Li Tieniu was about to say sothing.
Jiang Xiaoxiao raised her hand to stop him.
"Mr. Li, since that’s the case, we won’t make things difficult for you. We plan to prepare 250 taels of goods."
Price increases are manageable; she had long budgeted that these illicit salts, when sold to local villagers, would roughly double on this trip.
Losing a tael wouldn’t significantly reduce profits.
The only good news was that she had brought out those 200 taels in silver notes when she left; otherwise, even if she wanted to help now, she couldn’t produce anything out of thin air.
Mr. Li glanced at Jiang Xiaoxiao, "This young man seems unfamiliar, who are you?"
Li Tieniu quickly said, "This is a brother of mine who ca with us this ti, Jiang Brother is family."
"Alright, since you have the Silver, things can be arranged. Here! Take this note and go directly to pay for the goods."
Mr. Li did not make things difficult for them, directly giving them a permit to buy salt.
Li Tieniu thanked him profusely as he left with Jiang Xiaoxiao.
He couldn’t even express all his gratitude. If Jiang Xiaoxiao hadn’t been so generous and taken out the 200 taels, they wouldn’t have been able to transport the salt back today. The two of them went to the salt warehouse one after the other.
After paying Silver and handing over the note, the other party directly moved the salt out from the warehouse.
The salt was all packed in cloth bags, and 18 people imdiately stepped forward to shoulder one bag each.
A jin of coarse salt cost only ten wen, while a jin of salt was worth one tael of Silver.
The price of one jin of salt was equivalent to 100 jin of grain.
Even when there was no war here, this price could equal 20 jin of grain.
Of course, that’s the governnt’s price.
The governnt imposed various taxes, several dozen types, layered and adding up, making the price indeed high.
They got a jin from the salt field for about a hundred wen, and the price sold to the people naturally couldn’t be too high, which was why illicit salt was popular and why people took risks.
The governnt cracked down on illicit salt, punishing violators ruthlessly.
The 250 taels of Silver brought them 2500 jin of salt.
Jiang Xiaoxiao saw a wheelbarrow being pushed from sowhere, each carrying a few hundred jin of salt, a total of six wheelbarrows.
Six people took turns pushing the carts while the remaining people guarded the salt carts.
This greatly reduced manpower and slowed their speed.
Li Tieniu smiled, "Mr. Jiang, we store these tools here at the salt field, using them every ti."
"Why not consider renting an ox cart or horse cart for faster speed?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao hadn’t thought the efficiency would be so low.
No wonder they encountered robbery; with such a slow pace, it’s surprising not to be robbed.
Li Tieniu gave Jiang Xiaoxiao a perplexed look.
No wonder she used to be a governnt young lady, how could she know the hardships of ordinary people?
"Mr. Jiang, we are illicit salt traders, secretive. If we hire ox or horse carts, there are large rewards from the governnt encouraging people to report illicit salt trading. Once soone reports us, we all face the death penalty."
Jiang Xiaoxiao sighed, she had been naive.
The groups from the two villages encountered each other. Indeed, the people from the Lin family village made a larger purchase, pushing a total of 12 wheelbarrows, clearly at least carrying 500 taels worth of goods.
Everyone once again began the grand journey back.
Jiang Xiaoxiao had just examined the salt in the sacks; it was entirely different from what she had seen before, with this salt appearing black, yellow, and full of impurities.
It was obviously a result of the process, and the salt tasted slightly bitter and astringent.
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