Madam, She Has a Tender Heart

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 store. As a result, the grain price in the grain store also rose quietly. 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 cotton, linen, silk and other cloth.

Qian's cloth shop welcomed the largest flow of customers. Every day he smiled and collected money until his hands were soft. But after the shopkeeper’s wife realized what was happening, she also raised the price to a certain extent, and was scolded by people. She was not afraid, and stood in the shop with her hands on her waist and scolded people.

The people in the town watched 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. She sat on the steps in front of the shop with Xiao Qingxing, who had no one to teach her since Ma’s wife left, and looked at the chaos on the street and muttered.

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.

At that time, farmers will not be able to collect enough grain to pay taxes. Who will work hard to cultivate the land? At that time, public dissatisfaction will spread and farmers will resist...

Su Qingyu shivered in shock and did not dare to think any further.

She suddenly felt confused.

Fengting Town is not in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and it is far away from the capital. I originally thought that the weather would be smooth and the years would be quiet, and I could just live a small life with peace of mind. But now the price of salt has increased several times, and the price of food has also quietly increased.

Su Qingyu suddenly panicked.

Lying on the bed at night, she looked at Lu Xiaobao, who was sleeping soundly next to her. He looked so cute and cute, with his two little hands holding fists and placing them on both sides of his little head. I just learned to roll over, I can’t even crawl, my teeth haven’t even grown yet, they’re just a little bit bigger...

In this era of lack of medical care and medicine, no one knows whether he can grow up peacefully.

Su Qingyu looked at her son silently for a long time, always feeling that she should do something.

Suddenly, he remembered that he still had a useless golden finger, and quickly called it out. Only Su Qingnao could see the contents of this golden finger. At that time, Lu Bocheng was going to the front line, and Su Qingnao ordered some medicines. Unexpectedly, the guy couldn't see it.

After that she rarely used it anymore. This time I thought about it and quickly ordered a bottle of milk powder and a set of milk bottles. After waiting for a long time, I received it. I got busy and made a bottle to wake up Lu Xiaobao.