Chapter 115: A Bit Panicked

Su Qing'an went to Fengting Town two or three times a day. Every time she went out, she would see a long queue of people buying salt.

Gradually, the salt shop began to limit the quantity.

Some people came from far away to buy salt, dragging their children and daughters, and as soon as it was their turn, they were told that there was no salt. Suddenly, it was as if the sky had fallen, and they sat on the ground and cried. The crying was so shrill that it was unbearable to hear.

Some people were smart and turned around and rushed to various grocery stores and food stores to buy various sauces, pickles, pickled vegetables, salted fish, etc.

In Su Qing'an's store, all the pickles, pickles, and pickles were snapped up.

Others were smart and stopped staring at the price of salt and started buying grain from the grain shop. As a result, the grain price in the grain shop also quietly rose. The same was true for the cloth shop, and some people began to hoard cloth. In addition to silver and grain, taxes can also be paid in the form of cotton, linen, silk, and other cloth.

The cloth shop owned by the shopkeeper Qian welcomed the largest flow of customers. Every day he was smiling and collecting money. But after the shopkeeper's wife realized it, she also raised the price to a certain extent, and was scolded by others. She was not afraid, and stood in the shop with her hands on her waist and scolded others.

The people in the town saw a lot of excitement.

The whole town had a kind of stormy atmosphere, which made people panic.

Xiao Qingyang, who had been in a private school for a year, was very confused about all this. He sat on the steps in front of the shop with Xiao Qingxing, who had no one to teach since Ma's wife left, looking at the chaos on the street and muttering.

In the evening, the sisters returned to the yard. It was hot in summer, and several people were cooling off in the yard.

Xiao Qingxing looked up and asked, "Sister, is salt rare? Why is it more expensive than grain?"

Su Qing'an saw that the brother and sister were looking at her with burning eyes, smiled and said, "Yes. Salt is more rare than grain. Grain can be produced in every place. If you can't produce rice, you can grow wheat. If you can't grow wheat, you can grow sorghum, millet, and soybeans. There is always a way to find food. But salt is not produced in every place. Moreover, the salt-making technology is not mature, the output is small, and the transportation is inconvenient. It is not easy to transport it here, so it is sold at a high price."

The brother and sister were thoughtful.

After thinking about it, Xiao Qingyang asked again, "Why did one catty of salt exchange for four catties of grain before, but the price of salt has risen so much now? Is salt becoming less?"

"I know, I know, is it because things are rare that they are expensive?" Xiao Qingxing said loudly.

Su Qingliu and Su Qing'an both laughed.

Since Ma Shi Niang left, no one taught this child to read, so she followed Xiao Qingyang to learn. Every time Xiao Qingyang came back from the private school, he would teach her to recognize characters and recite articles. The little thing can now stumble and read some simple books, and occasionally speak one or two idioms.

Su Qingmei said: "No. It's because the salt tax is heavy that the price of salt has risen."

"Does salt also have to be taxed?"

"Yes. We live in this country, and in order to maintain the operation of the country, the country has to collect various taxes. Not only salt is taxed, but also vinegar, paper, and sauce. Sister also has to pay business taxes when she opens a store, and the fields at home also have to pay taxes. We also have to pay grain taxes when we collect grain."

"I know. There are also household taxes and Ding taxes!"

The little brother and sister are deeply impressed by these two taxes. Because of the household tax, their two sisters paid household taxes because of the separation of households some time ago, and Xiao Qingyang and Lu Xiaobao also paid Ding taxes.

It made Xiao Qingyang doubt his life once, and he thought he had become an adult.

"Sister, why are there so few people selling salt? If more shops were opened, wouldn't salt be sold everywhere? There wouldn't be so many people queuing up." These days, the twins often see people who come from far away to buy salt but can't get it and cry on the ground, and they feel sad.

The two little ones are exposed to this side of society for the first time. Before, they couldn't eat enough, and they just wanted to be full. Now that they can eat enough, they never thought that there would be people crying and rushing to buy salt.

Su Qingmei explained to the twins: "Because salt is almost always sold by the government, only a small number of merchants with salt permits can sell salt. Merchants without salt permits cannot get salt. Those who sell salt privately will be arrested by the government."

Since ancient times, salt tax has been an important tax in all dynasties. Sometimes salt tax accounts for more than half of the tax revenue. It is an important source of treasury revenue. Therefore, all dynasties strictly control the entry and exit of salt. Salt is transported and sold by the government.

After the Song Dynasty, salt merchants were allowed to sell salt. The court issued salt permits to salt merchants. With salt permits, salt merchants can trade salt. But the salt trade was too profitable, and the salt merchants with salt permits were rich, and the court would strictly control the quantity and price of salt.

And it was not easy to register the population in this era. Many mountain people, refugees, and black households could not be registered, so these people did not pay taxes. But they would not stop eating salt, so salt taxes were added. In this way, it was equivalent to that all the people in the world paid taxes.

And paying salt taxes was much easier than paying other taxes, and there would be no evasion. As long as you are a person, you have to eat salt. Therefore, the sale of salt has always been strictly controlled.

But because it is a highly profitable industry, many people take risks and sell private salt, and they can't stop despite repeated bans.

Su Qingmei used simple and easy-to-understand language to tell the twins about the importance of salt and salt taxes. The two little things immediately understood, and they were very glad that they bought salt and stored it earlier, and now the family is not short of salt. Otherwise, the family would be poor just by buying salt.

Su Qingmei saw the two little things patting their chests with a look of relief, and smiled.

The salt tax has increased, and the agricultural tax has also increased.

These two taxes have always been important sources of tax revenue for the imperial court. Suddenly increasing these two major taxes can only mean that the treasury has no money. Now the county has collected a bunch of miscellaneous taxes. I don't know whose pockets are filled.

When the grain harvested by the farmers is not enough to pay taxes, who will work hard to farm? When the people are dissatisfied, the farmers will resist...

Su Qingmei shuddered and dared not think about it.

She felt confused.

Fengting Town is not in the heart of the Central Plains, and it is far from the capital. I thought that the weather was good and the years were peaceful, and I just lived a peaceful life. But now the price of salt has increased several times, and the price of grain has also increased quietly.

Su Qingmei suddenly panicked.

Lying in bed at night, looking at Lu Xiaobao sleeping beside her, he looked so cute, with his two little hands clenched into fists, placed on both sides of his little head. He has just learned to turn over, can't even crawl, his teeth haven't grown yet, and he is just a little bit big...

In this era, there is a lack of medical care and medicine, and I don't know if he can grow up peacefully.

Su Qingmei looked at her son silently for a long time, and always felt that she should do something.

Suddenly I remembered that I still had a useless golden finger, so I hurriedly called it out. Only Su Qing'an could see what was in this golden finger. At that time, Lu Bocheng was going to the front line, and Su Qing'an ordered some medicines. Unexpectedly, that guy couldn't see it.

Later, she rarely used it again. This time, I thought about it and hurriedly ordered a bottle of milk powder and a set of milk bottles. I waited for a long time before receiving it. I hurriedly got up to make a can and pushed Lu Xiaobao awake.